Switch!
by Naishu
Summary: After raiding a witches' coven, Damon and Stefan wake up to find out they've switched bodies! What happens when they find themselves in a countdown...to turning human? Delena.
1. Who?

**AN: I realized today that I couldn't write more of "Drink Carefully" until I saw the next episode of TVD. To cure my boredom, I came up with this idea! I was watching the scene where Damon and Stefan pretend to be each other at the Grill, and it sparked this idea! Hope you enjoy, and this is my first Damon x Elena!**

Damon woke and stretched. He'd had one hell of a night, and he didn't remember much of it. All he knew was that he had a splitting headache, and for some reason he was in Stefan's room. He wasn't sure what it was about Stefan, but his room was always a disastrous mess of books and random objects. For the nicer brother, he definitely was messy.

He threw the blankets back and reached for his jeans. Surprisingly they were nowhere to be found. In fact, none of his clothing was in the room. _Definitely in interesting night_ he mused. He picked up a pair of Stefan's and slid them on, grumbling about the size of jeans that his little brother wore...they were always too big for him. He did them up and slid a belt through the belt-loops, cursing about Stefan's taste in belts. He was full of things to say today, and the headache wasn't helping.

He closed his eyes and tried to remember the night before. He and Stefan had raided a witches' coven that had been hurting Bonnie, and he didn't remember anything after entering the house. The witches were most likely dead, but if not he had every intention of killing them for the headache he had. Stefan would know what had happened most likely; he'd ask him when he got back from classes. Damon hadn't understood what possessed Stefan to actually _want_ to go to school, but he assumed that it was lodged in some deep-seated need to belong to _something_. Damon had given up on it long ago.

He stood and walked towards the basement, wanting blood. It was odd, but Stefan's jeans actually fit...maybe he'd been putting on weight. Who knew. He flashed to the basement (slower than usual, for some reason), opening the mini-fridge and pulling out a bag of blood. He really wasn't sure what he was going to do today, aside from meeting with Liz about a new vampire device he had nothing he needed to rush off to. As he was walking back upstairs, he took a sip of the blood. It was _amazing!_

It was the best blood he'd tasted in years, and his entire body was suddenly on fire! He wanted more! The bag was emptied quickly, and Damon held off from grabbing another one. The supply was running low, and he'd need to raid a blood bank tonight. He wasn't sure why, but the blood had made him feel a lot stronger...he made a mental note to steal bags with the same serial number. He tossed the used bag into a pile of them and made his way upstairs. He wanted his own clothing, and he could use a shower.

The door to his room was already open, and he pushed it further, irritated. Stefan must have passed out in his bed. As he walked into the room, he realized that someone was sitting in his bed, but it wasn't Stefan...It was _him_.

The imposter Damon's mouth moved. "Damon?"

"What the fuck..?" He looked at the replica of himself, astonished. "How the hell..."

"It's me, Stefan..."

Damon looked at his hands and realized that his ring was on the wrong hand...the wrong _large_ hand. It couldn't be possible. He ran to the mirror in the bathroom. The face looking back at him wasn't his own, but his little brother's. He ran his shaking hands over his face in disbelief. Stefan walked into the room behind him, and Damon watched _his _mouth move in the reflection.

"I don't know how, but we switched bodies"


	2. What?

**AN: Here goes! I've got this story mapped out, so updates should be fairly regular! I was gone this weekend to a cheerleading competition, so my apologies on how long it took to update. Let me know what you think, and thanks to those who have reviewed already, you make me want to keep writing!**

* * *

"I can't remember anything" Stefan said, shaking his head and looking in the mirror. It was the most bizarre thing he'd ever seen, looking at Damon's reflection in the mirror. After they'd gotten over the fact that they'd switched bodies, they'd spent the last couple of hours trying to remember what had happened. So far, there wasn't much coming to mind. They both knew that they'd gone to a witches' coven and gotten into some trouble, but they weren't sure exactly what had happened after they showed up. It wasn't possible, but it felt like someone had erased their memories.

"Me neither. We should find Judgey, I'm sure she'll have _plenty_ to say." Damon said. "By the way, your hairstyle sucks."

"You're going to change it, I imagine?" Stefan said, watching his body lean over the countertop towards the other mirror.

"Now where would the fun be in that?" He turned away from the mirror. "If everyone figured out what had happened, there'd be no fun in pretending to be you and making your life miserable."

"So now we're back to that" Stefan crossed his new arms.

"No.." Damon walked to his dresser, pulling out a shirt. "It's a whole new round of it. It would be depressing if I didn't take this opportunity to harass you." He shook his head as he realized that the shirt didn't fit, and tossed it aside.

"I assume you mean "Take this opportunity to get to Elena"" Damon's lack of an answer confirmed his suspicions. "She'll know the difference, Damon."

"Are you so sure, Stefan?"

"Of course, because she _loves_ me." Damon watched as his own face rebuked him. It was seriously unnerving.

"Can you stop lecturing me? It looks like my reflection is yelling at me." Stefan shook his head. They needed to get switched back as fast as possible, before Damon could cause any trouble.

"Can we go find Bonnie now? I'm sure she'll be able to tell us _something_" Stefan pleaded.

"Fine." He said "But I'm still driving."

* * *

"Bonnie, we really need your help. No, _I_ really need your help" Stefan said. Bonnie didn't seem too impressed that Damon was the one talking.

"You really switched bodies?" She tilted her head.

"Do you honestly think I'd ask you for _anything_ unless I had to? Stefan is great, but I'd like to go back to _not_ looking like a Twilight knockoff" Damon said, pulling Stefan's brows into a variation of his usual sarcastic expressions.

"Fine." She said, stepping out onto the porch.

"Seriously? You _still_ won't let us in?" Damon asked, tilting Stefan's head.

Stefan smiled. "Actually Damon, it's just you. She's let me in before." He could see that it annoyed Damon, and he didn't care.

"Bonnie, please. He's just going to get worse."

"Give me a day or so, I need to look through the Grimoire and talk to some people. When I find something, I'll let you know." She said. "How did this happen, anyways?"

"We hunted down the coven that had been draining your power, and we woke up like this." Stefan said. "Neither of us can remember a thing about yesterday; all we know is that we have headaches, and we got to the coven."

Bonnie thought for a moment. "You guys did it just for me?" She asked.

"Elena came to us worried about you. She said that Jeremy had seen you go nearly comatose while eating lunch, and it scared him. He told us everything." Bonnie cursed under her breath; she'd have to kick Jeremy extra hard for that one.

"I'll call if I find anything, okay? For now, just stay indoors."

Bonnie ducked back inside and closed the door, and Damon heard her run up to the second floor and rummage for something. He guessed it was the Grimoire.

"I'm heading back home. I can't stand this headache."

"What headache?" Stefan asked, looking at Damon. Stefan hadn't gotten a headache from the transformation.

"I've had one all day, it's painfully annoying." Damon said, running a hand through Stefan's hair.

"Oh" Stefan said "It's the blood."

"What?"

"I'm assuming you had human blood this morning?" Stefan said

"Yeah, what's your point?" Damon asked, rubbing his temples.

"If you drink human blood in my body, it'll give you a headache unless you drink more." He said. "Symptom of withdrawl, I guess."

"Have I told you lately how much your life sucks?"

* * *

Elena was in a panic as she sat in 2nd period Biology. Stefan and Damon had disappeared after last night, and she hadn't heard from either one. They were supposed to be back that night, but neither had showed up. She'd waited around the boarding house until it was time for classes, and she'd taken off. It may have been pivotal to stay and wait, but she'd missed enough classes to be on academic probation. Dealing with the underworld and staying on top of your grades was something she didn't think even Einstein could do. Class ended and she pulled her phone out, Dialling Stefan for what had to be the 40th time.

_The customer you are calling is current—_

Elena hung up. She'd heard that message so many times that it was almost embedded in her head.

"Come on, Stefan." She said under her breath. She looked at her phone again and dialled Damon, hoping that maybe he'd pick up. Even if he did, though, she knew he'd likely not give her a straight answer. The phone rang with no answer. She shut it and sighed. She hated not knowing what was going on. Come to think of it, she hadn't seen Bonnie either.

Jeremy and Bonnie had been spending a lot of time together, and when Jeremy had come to Elena with the news about Bonnie having her energy stolen by a coven of witches, she'd jumped to help. She'd begged Stefan to let her go with them, but he wouldn't hear of it at all. Damon was more than willing to let her go, but as long as she stayed in the car. Something both of them had concluded was impossible for her to do. She kicked herself.

"Elena!" She heard Caroline call.

"Caroline?"

"Where's Stefan? We were supposed to go hunting this morning, but he didn't show. I'm guessing he was at your place?" She asked, as bubbly as ever.

"I'm not sure" Elena said "I haven't heard from either of them."

"What?" Caroline said, confused.

"Yeah, I know. They were supposed to be back hours ago, and I can't help but feel like something's wrong"

"Why don't you go home at lunch? I can take care of your teachers..." Caroline had gotten used to compelling Elena's teachers. In fact, it was probably the only way that she was still listed as attending.

"I hate asking you to do that, Caroline" Elena said.

"Listen, I'm worried too! Stefan is my friend, and if anything's wrong with him I want to know. I have cheer practice and a student council meeting to be at, so I can't come with you, but I'll make sure that everyone thinks you were here!"

"Caro, you're a lifesaver."

"Just remember, you promised to help set up the auditorium for the sports award ceremony!"

"How could I forget!" Elena said, rolling her eyes.

"Hey, it may not be a big deal to you, but I _am_ Student Council President, and dead or alive, those decorations are going up." She smiled. "Got to go, though! I'll see you later, k?"

"Okay!" Elena said, trying to remember what time she was supposed to come back.

"At six" Caroline said. She always seemed to know when Elena wasn't committed to school spirit.

"Thanks Caroline, See you!" She darted out the side doors, making a break for her car. She had every intention of being there when Stefan and Damon got back, and they were getting an earful from her.

* * *

Damon sat in the library, watching Stefan's angry looks as he drank from a bag of blood. Stefan may have been on the puppy diet, but he had no intention of chasing squirrels.

"Stop frowning; you're gonna give me wrinkles" He said, taking the straw out of his mouth.

Stefan sighed. This was already annoying him far too much. "You're just going to make it harder for me when we switch back."

"I know." He said "That's my intention; you should know this by now."

They both stopped talking as they heard a car pull up to the house. It must have been Elena. Damon stood, walking over to Stefan with an empty glass in his hand. He poured the blood from the bag into it, handing it to him. "You'll want this. My body doesn't do well on the puppy diet". Stefan took the glass and set it on his knee, looking at it like it was about to bite him. The door opened.

"Stefan? Damon?" Elena's voice called.

"Elena!" Damon said, rushing to her in a characteristically Stefan fashion. Elena didn't notice the difference, and she jumped into his arms.

"I was so worried about you, what happened?" She asked, looking up at him.

"Neither of us can remember; we woke up here not long after nine" Damon said, avoiding all sarcasm and mixing in a little of Stefan's "I'm sorry" tone. This would be much easier than he thought.

"Elena! Don't go to him, I'm Stefan!" Stefan said, walking up to her in Damon's body, the glass still absentmindedly in his hand.

"Right, Damon. And I'm Katherine." Damon bit back a _not funny_, and looked down at her.

"Don't mind him, he's been ranting all day. Damon stuff, you know" Stefan said, hugging her close and glaring at Stefan.

Stefan tried again. "Elena, Damon and I switched bodies; it has something to do with the witches' coven" he walked towards her, trying to smile his usual Stefan smile without getting angry at the situation. Elena momentarily broke away from Damon, unsure and looking at them both. Damon turned to Stefan, faking his brother's facial expressions as well as he could.

"Damon, seriously? Can Elena and I talk in peace? Stop making things up and go harass someone else, okay?" he said, a little bit of a pleading tone in his voice. "Take the blood with you when you go; I don't want to smell it."

Elena looked at the glass in Damon's hand, and she huffed. "I know you're not Stefan, because Stefan only drinks _my_ blood". With that she turned back to Damon, hugging him and stretching up to plant a kiss on his – _Stefan's – _lips_. _Damon had to hold back a flinch at her comment about Stefan's drinking of her blood, but the kiss was definitely worth it.

"Elena, wait!" Stefan said

"Enough, Damon." She said, rolling her eyes. "Stefan, let's talk".

Stefan watched Damon smirk as Elena dragged him upstairs, not looking back. He looked at the blood in his hand, cursing under his breath and dumping it in the trash, glass and all. She'd notice, he was sure of it. The question was how soon.


	3. Where?

**AN: Hey guys! I was shocked to see 761 views last night! :D You guys are awesome, and I was beaming all night because of the amount of reviews! I get them on my blackberry, so they make me happy wherever I am! Here's the next chapter, I hope you guys like! I'm having trouble writing Elena, so let me know if I'm on target or not. Much love and happy reading!**

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* * *

**

"Can you remember where it is?" Elena asked from the backseat. They'd decided to go back to the site of the coven to look for answers. If there were any, they'd be back there.

Damon bit back a retort. "When we drove there two days ago, we were still lucid. We remember getting out of the car, but nothing after. We should be coming up to it soon." He said, pulling off one of Stefan's best comforting smiles. He saw a flash of anger cross Stefan's face as he sat behind the wheel, something else that Damon had skilfully orchestrated. Elena had to know that Damon always insisted on driving the Camaro, and Stefan had only clued in to that halfway through the drive.

"You've been awful quiet, Damon" Elena said, leaning forward between the seats to look at Stefan.

"Not much to say right now." He'd given up on trying to tell her that he was really Stefan. Damon was doing an amazing job pretending to be him, and Elena was eating it up. OF course, Damon was the master manipulator, Stefan should have seen this coming. Either way, Elena would eventually notice what had happened. Damon could only keep acting for so long, and Stefan had already seen him bite back snide remarks.

"Someone's in a mood" Elena said, reaching forward to tweak the dial on the radio.

"I think he's upset that his little charade hasn't been working" Damon said, looking at Stefan.

Elena turned to Stefan, smirking. "Seriously, Damon. I'm disappointed that you didn't put more work into it. 'No Elena! I'm Stefan!'? Really? You can do _much_ better than that." She ruffled Damon's hair, and if he wasn't pretending to be humble, he would have gloated. This was working perfectly.

"Seriously. If you two had switched places, I would know." She slid back to her seat, crossing her arms and catching Stefan's eyes in the rear-view mirror. For Damon's piercing blue, there definitely wasn't any mischief in them.

"We're coming up to the turnoff" Damon said, pointing from the passenger seat. A grown-over sign read _Spirits of the Eastern Dawn_. Apparently this place used to be a big enough deal to have a sign. Odd, Elena thought. Didn't covens keep themselves hidden, like Bonnie and her grandmother? They turned and headed down a narrow dirt road, and Elena was surprised that the low-sitting Camaro wasn't sinking into the mud.

"Why would we take the Camaro?" She asked, looking at Stefan. "We could have taken Jenna's Ford SUV...it would have made more sense." She looked at the deep tire ruts ahead of them, wondering how they'd driven over this road before.

"Because Damon always has something to prove" Stefan said from Damon's body. Elena raised an eyebrow.

"Starting this up again?" She asked, sighing.

"I'm telling you the truth, Elena" Stefan said, locking eyes with her in the mirror. Elena didn't look impressed.

"I wonder why I don't believe you, after all the other times you were supposedly telling the truth..." Damon flinched in his seat, not visibly enough for Elena to see. Stefan smiled.

"You'll see eventually." Stefan said. With that, they hit a low point in the road that sent the Camaro screeching to a halt. Elena lurched forward, and was pushed back by Stefan's arm from the passenger's seat. Damon turned to her.

"Seatbelt, Elena?" He asked, lowering Stefan's arm and giving her a stern look of disapproval.

"Sorry, I'm used to Damon driving...normally he's a lot more on the ball" She said, playfully punching Stefan in the arm. Stefan sighed, stepping out of the driver's side door and examining the damage. An overgrown root was blocking the bumper.

"We won't be able to go any farther by car, but then again it doesn't look like anyone else has gone further anyways" Stefan said, motioning to the lack of tire treads on the road after the root. He stepped over it, not remembering this part. They'd gotten out of the carat the same point, but Stefan couldn't seem to remember anything after it, including hitting the root.

"Are you ok, Elena?" Damon asked, running a hand through her hair and putting on a concerned face that was only half fake.

"I'm fine Stefan, just a little dizzy" She said, smiling. The three of them started walking down the road, Stefan more annoyed by the second. He slid his hands into the pockets of Damon's Jeans, watching Damon and Elena walk ahead hand in hand. It hurt.

Damon looked up, seeing smoke drifting lazily through the trees. He could see the beginnings of a clearing up ahead, and he recognized it somewhere in his mind. "I think that's it" He said, turning to Stefan. The smoke meant one of two things; either the witches were still here, or they were destroyed. They'd find out soon enough.

They walked towards the clearing, more and more of it starting to come into view. A large building stretched across the back of the clearing, and the smoke was coming from behind it. They walked across the clearing quickly, wanting to see what was happening. Damon walked to the edge of the building, pressing his back flat to it and peering around the corner. He walked around the side of the building.

"We don't have much to worry about. No one here is going to talk". There were bodies everywhere. There were easily twenty bodies, all killed in various ways. Bite marks were everywhere on them, and they were ghostly pale. The fire burning in the center of the gruesome scene was from a pit that was burning itself dead.

"Oh my god..." Elena said, covering her mouth and turning away, heaving. Stefan flashed to her, wrapping his arms around her and running a hand through her hair.

"It's ok, Elena."

"No Damon, it's not!" She said, looking at Stefan. He moved to wrap his arms tighter around her, and she slipped out of them.

"Did you do this!" She demanded, stepping backwards towards Stefan.

"No, Elena!" He looked confused "I mean, I don't know, but it wasn't me, it couldn't have been!" He looked at Damon.

"Damon, they were _people_" She said, turning to Damon and burying her face in his shoulder. She looked back at the scene, suddenly sick again.

"Elena, _I _didn't do it!" Stefan said "_he_ did! We switched bodies somehow, I'm telling you the truth! The witches must have done it!" He looked at her with pleading eyes. "You have to know that I'd never do something like...like _this!_"

"Right, Damon" Damon said, looking at Stefan. "Seriously? After all you've done you expect her to believe that this _wasn't_ you?" Stefan looked at him with hate. He wanted nothing more than to seriously injure Damon.

"All you care about is your stupid little game, Damon. People are _dead_ here, and you're still pretending to be Stefan! What's wrong with you?" She slid her hands around Damon's waist. "Besides, if Stefan had done it, he'd be having trouble with the amount of blood here. You _know_ he can't handle blood like you!"

Stefan placed his head in his hands. "Elena, it's Damon's body. It handles blood much better than mine."

"Even if you're right, why would you have drank blood other than mine yesterday?" She said, turning away from Damon.

"_He_ gave me the glass right before you walked in! I didn't have any of it!" He pleaded.

"Can we just go?" She said, looking at Damon "I don't have time for this, and I can't look at _that_ anymore" She motioned towards the bodies.

"Of course, hun" Damon said. Elena tipped her head, Stefan never called her hun. "We have to look for the Grimoire, though."

"Why?" Elena demanded, turning to him.

"We don't know what spell they put on Bonnie, and if she's going to reverse it she needs to know what they did" Damon said, pulling the answer out of thin air. "I talked to her yesterday afternoon, and the headaches are still there." He pushed a strand of hair out of her eyes.

"No, He wants it so he can have his body back!" Stefan said, snapping at him.

Elena looked from one to the other, not sure what to believe. She stepped away from Damon, looking at him sideways. She wasn't so sure anymore.

Stefan stood. "Can we finish this later? We should find the Grimoire. It would be great to switch back and end this nightmare" He wanted Elena to have the idea that they'd switched thoroughly in her mind.

"Fine, but it's going to be a long ride home" She said, looking at them both. She decided it was better not to be close to either one until she figured out if they were telling the truth or not. She looked at Stefan, who shrugged.

"I'm not sure what's with him, but you're only going to give him time to play with you more than he already has. You have to know it's me, Elena. I'm not like him" Damon said, looking at Stefan. It was hard, not being sarcastic.

"If that's what it takes, then fine. Stefan, you shouldn't worry. I love you" She said, looking at Damon. He smiled.

"I love you too."

Stefan shook his head; he couldn't believe what was happening.

* * *

Elena dragged them both over the coals on the drive home. The Grimoire was nowhere to be found, and they made their way home after burying the bodies. Elena still wasn't sure whether or not Damon was making it all up, or if they actually had switched, and she decided to spend the night at home. Jenna was chopping away at some carrots in the kitchen, and from the looks of it she was hating it.

"Dinner not cooperating?" She asked, picking up one of the orange veggies.

Jenna sighed and stopped for a moment. "Damon gave me this recipe, and it's about as easy as the dessert one I got from him a while back. I think the two of us need to have a one-on-one cooking session"

"I'm sure that'll be lovely" Elena said sarcastically.

"Oh, I fully expect that it'll be the most sarcastic two hours of my life". Elena smiled. She liked talking to Jenna. It made her feel like there were no vampires, witches, or anything supernatural. She could talk about everyday normal things and feel like she was a part of them for five minutes. It was a good thing.

Jenna started chopping again "Jenna, how do I know that Stefan's the one?" She asked, biting into the carrot.

Jenna chopped more slowly. "I'm probably the last person to ask, but I'd say because he's always there for you." She thought for a moment. "Alaric makes me feel safe, keeps me on the edge of my seat (because I never know what he's up to!), and it's easy to be me around him. I don't have to be good or bad or humble, I can be me, and say whatever I'm thinking." She smiled. "I guess that's it. Find someone who excites you and loves you, and is honest with you. I'm sure Stefan isn't perfect, and he probably does things that annoy you, but as long as he loves you and watches out for you, you'll be fine."

"Thanks, Jenna. You're getting a lot better at the mom thing." Elena chewed her carrot slowly. Stefan was always there for her and protected her, but he wasn't always honest. He kept things from her, and more than once she'd felt betrayed because of it. Damon on the other hand could always be counted on to tell her exactly what was going on. Still, Damon wasn't the most stable of people in the world. She didn't know what to think. She'd been wondering if Stefan really was the one ever since Klaus had entered the picture. He'd gotten a lot more secretive, and he'd been treating her like a child. She knew he loved her, but love wasn't always everything.

"I'm gonna jump in the shower, and I'll be back down to check on your culinary mastery" Elena said, smiling.

"Don't expect too much, I'd hate to ruin your night!" Jenna called after her as she headed to the stairs.

"You've already made it better, Jenna." She smiled. She had a lot of thinking to do, and she didn't know where to start.

"Let's hope Stefan is really Stefan..." she said. Knowing that would make things much easier, for sure.


	4. How?

**AN: Here it is! You guys are awesome :D! I had fun writing this chapter, apologies if it's a little short. Happy reading! **

* * *

"_Stefan, there's a mob of angry witches, remember?" God, his brother was stupid. Accidentally killed someone and has to stay and contemplate the consequences. Damon ran and grabbed his brother, pulling him off the body of the young man he'd killed. _

"_Damon, no"_

"_Stefan, I don't have time for this. See the witches? They know all kinds of fun witchy things to make life miserable." He dragged him along. "Now run, will you?" Stefan started running, pushing Damon off of him._

_Blackout._

_Damon's eyes opened, there was ash on his body. A man was chanting over him. Blackout again._

_Awake. The clearing is full of bodies. Two forms are standing amidst the corpses, a man and a woman. Faces._

_Blackout._

Damon woke with a start. He remembered. There were two witches left alive, and he had to find them. The bodies in his dreams had no bite-marks, meaning Stefan and He hadn't done it. Made sense, neither of them was strong enough to have drank that many bodies worth of blood. Damon got out of bed and headed down the hall to Stefan's dismally disorganized room. It was amazing how unnerving it was, looking at his own body asleep.

"Stefan..." Damon said, tilting his head. No response. He leaned down to Stefan's ear. "Stefan!" He snapped. Stefan jumped, disoriented for a moment.

"What the...Damon?" He said.

"Yes. Now to the important part: I remembered something about the other day."

Stefan groggily looked at him. "Great, what is it?" He reached for a shirt, knowing that he probably wasn't going to get back to sleep. Damon had this irritating ability to ruin his comfortable moments.

"There were two other witches. Get dressed, I'm calling a friend. We're going to find them." He said, tossing a random shirt to him. Stefan shook his head. This would be another long day.

* * *

Elena knocked on Bonnie's door, praying that she was home. It was Saturday, and there wasn't much of anything going on in Mystic Falls that would drag her away. She raised her hand to knock again when Bonnie opened the door, confused.

"Elena, it's eight in the morning!"

"I know Bonnie, I'm sorry." She said apologetically. "There's just something up with Stefan and Damon, and I'm hoping you can tell me what it is for sure. I brought stuff from both of them" she said, holding up Stefan's brush and Damon's belt.

"Come in" Bonnie said, pulling her friend in the door and shutting it. "They switched bodies." She said, matter-of-factly. "No witchy powers needed".

Elena sat down and shook her head. "I was afraid of that." She said.

"What happened?" Bonnie sensed that something was off with her friend.

"I didn't believe Stefan when he tried to tell me what happened...it's just—you know how Damon is. He does a pretty convincing job of being normal when it suits him." She said.

"Don't get me started on Damon." She said, crossing her arms.

Elena sighed. "This is so messed up." She felt horrible. She should have known that something was different, but it was always so hard to tell in a _normal_ situation whether Damon was joking or not. Stefan's pleas for her to believe him seemed like one of Damon's tricks that he pulled when he was bored.

"No kidding." Bonnie said. "I have no idea who those witches are, let alone why they were stealing my power. For some reason I still have a splitting headache; I've taken nearly everything in the house to try to dull it down.

"Sometimes I kick myself for getting messed up in all of this" Elena said.

"Only sometimes?" Bonnie smiled.

"I only have time to think about it sometimes!"

* * *

Damon had insisted on driving today, and Stefan assumed it had to do with the fact that Elena wasn't in the car. It was a fairly short drive from Mystic Falls to the large, well-kept house that they had pulled up to (unfortunately they hadn't driven from Mystic Falls, but from the Witches' Coven, adding a few good hours), and it seemed like Damon was almost in a good mood. Strange. Damon knocked on the door, hearing the dull echo of his knock inside. They heard a shuffling sound, and the door was pulled open, revealing an elderly woman. She looked at Stefan, her eyes widening in happy surprise.

"Damon! I thought someone must have killed you!" She said, flinging her frail arms around his shoulders. She recoiled when she realized that the person she hugged didn't feel at all like her old saviour.

"Me? No. Someone's been playing with me, though." The little woman turned to him, tilting her head.

"Damon?" She asked, unsure. She stretched out a hand to take his, smiling when she recognized the familiar aura.

"Well, you've changed a bit. You never visit anymore!" She said, shaking her head.

"You know me, Linda. I don't want to tease you with my youth!" He said. Her little brow furrowed as she realized that she hadn't invited them in. She looked at Stefan suspiciously, then back at Damon.

"Is he—"

"My brother." Damon said. "Don't worry. As far as he's concerned he's a vegetarian." The little woman's face seemed to break in relief, and she welcomed them in.

"Damon, I've hoped you'd come back over the years. From what I'd felt, you've been spending your time in Mystic Falls, am I right? Goodness, it's great that you've gotten over that _harpy_ Katherine. What a dark lady she was." She picked up a plate of cookies, holding it out and then shaking her head, putting it back down. "I've gotten silly over the last few years, you'll have to excuse me." She said. "The large house has kept me busy, let me tell you."

Stefan looked at Damon, not entirely sure how he knew this woman. "How did you meet Damon?" Stefan asked, watching Damon reach for a cookie. Contrary to popular belief, food was still delicious...but it did nothing for the digestive system.

"Back in the 1940's, Damon here helped me stow away on a boat to America. The war made very few countries friendly to Germans, so he also helped me get my immigrant papers and set up a life. His more fictional abilities were a great help when getting away from the Gestapo. Horrible wretches, the most of them." She picked up a cookie. "Then, when I lost my home in Katrina (I loved New Orleans, you know) Damon gave me this beautiful home. I owe your brother quite a bit."

"Anything to see you smile." He said.

"I see you're still as charming as ever." She said "Now what brings you here. I know it isn't my looks anymore." She winked. "I assume it has something to do with your new look."

"Well, as I'm sure you can tell, I'm just not myself lately."

"Ah. You've been switched. I can't undo it, unfortunately." She said.

"We didn't expect you to be able to. From the looks of it, a whole coven was needed to do this." He said.

"It's true. Humans are no problem, but a vampire requires significant blood sacrifice to change. Switching you back should be simple enough, but first you need to find whomever sealed it. They're the only ones who can undo the spell."

_Blood sacrifice_. He thought. It explained the dead witches.

"Why would someone go through so much trouble to do this?" He asked.

"Because it'll kill you much slower than a stake." She nibbled her cookie thoughtfully. "Seems like you might get a taste of humanity, Damon."

"What do you mean?" Stefan asked, disturbed.

"Because these aren't your bodies, they'll start to age. You have about a year until the aging catches up with you...give it a few months and you'll be as frail as me."

Damon and Stefan looked at each other uncomfortably. "What do we need to do?"

"As I said, find the person who changed you, and find their Grimoire. After that, you'll need a sacrifice. I'll give you a hint." She said "Keep the witch alive who turned you. Revenge is sweet. Other than that, I can't help you unfortunately."

Stefan shook his head. "Wonderful cookies" Damon said, munching.

"They're storebought hun. I can't be bothered to cook anymore since you hired that chef for me." She turned to Stefan. "Your brother is quite the guardian. You'd do well to follow after him."

"I'll keep that in mind" Stefan said, watching Damon gloat. He had every intention of finding that itch as fast as possible.

"There is one thing you could help with" Damon said. "I remembered the faces of the two who were left alive. Can you recognize them?" He asked, leaning forward.

She placed a frail hand on either side of his head, closing her eyes and pursing her lips. "I recognize one of them; the woman. I can give you her information; she doesn't live far." She leaned forward and started to whisper. "And truth be told, she's a bit slow. She'll be at home panicking about what to do."

Damon smiled and opened his eyes. "As always Linda, you've been a great help". She was one of the few people that he would call a close friend.

"Well then, should we be heading off to find her?" Stefan said, shifting. He wanted out of Damon's body, and the sooner the better.

* * *

Elena turned to leave, but Bonnie stopped her.

"Elena, here." She handed Elena what seemed to be a mood ring. "It'll turn blue for Stefan, Red for Damon. All you have to do is stand within a meter of them, and it'll tell you who'se who. I'm sure it'll help once they switch back, too."

"When did you—?"

"When they came to me. I knew it wouldn't be long before you showed up." Bonnie smiled.

"Bonnie, thanks. It means a lot."

"I know. Now make sure you apologize to Stefan."


	5. Why?

**AN: Heey! I got some extra time this weekend, and I decided to write the next chapter. Stefan is OOC, but I'm going to work with it. Delena fluff will be coming soon, I promise!**

* * *

It seemed like they'd gotten lucky today. Every place they were stopping at was fairly close; no three hour drives to deal with. The building they pulled up to was a shoddy apartment complex...it looked like it hadn't seen a maintenance worker in at least a decade. They got out of the car, not sure what to expect. If this was one of the witches that had switched them, it was scary to think about what she was capable of. Stefan walked briskly, wanting to get answers as fast as possible. He scanned the buzzers, looking for the name they needed.

"What're you planning to do, Stefan? Ring her buzzer?" Damon asked, sauntering up behind him. "Hi, you switched our souls around, and we have a few questions...seriously?" Damon quickly put a fist through the glass beside the lock, turning the handle on the other side of the door and smiling as it clicked open.

"See? Much simpler."

Stefan shook his head, but followed his brother up the decrepit stairs. They came to the third floor, found the door they were looking for, and knocked.

"Hello?" A voice answered shakily.

"Maintenance; we had a complaint about the plumbing upstairs, we need to look at your pipes." Damon said, rolling his eyes. He saw the light coming through the peephole vanish, and then heard panicked shuffling. She was running.

"Stefan, outside!" His brother bolted.

Damon kicked the door in, looking quickly around the apartment. He saw a thin form desperately struggling to get out of the fire escape window.

"No no no." He said, flashing over to her and grabbing her under the arms. "You have some explaining to do"

"He's coming for me!" She shouted, struggling against him. "He'll kill you!"

"See, that's where you're wrong." He said. "He's dead." In truth, Damon had no idea who or what she was talking about, but he assumed it was the male witch in his dream. Better for her to think that he was dead.

"No! It's not possible!" She exclaimed "he couldn't be killed by a few measly fangs". There was a hint of disgust in her voice; she didn't like vampires much.

"Well hun, you'll have to re-evaluate your realm of possibilities." Stefan came through the fire escape window, watching as Damon pushed the woman onto the couch. "Now, we have some questions." He said, pulling her coffee table in and sitting directly in front of her.

"No!" She said, shutting her mouth and looking away like a child.

"I'm sure you'll change your mind." Damon took her hand in his, applying pressure to one of the many points that lay in it. She tried to pull it away, but it was of no use. Damon pressed down and rose a barely muffled squeal from her throat.

"How about now?" He asked. She shook her head.

"Damon, don't" Stefan said, not impressed with the scene in front of him. "She isn't like the other people you _persuade. _She's human." Damon turned to him, unimpressed.

"I _ know_, Stefan. That's why I'm using pressure points." He turned back to the woman. "Where is the Grimoire." He said, rubbing his thumb along the back of her hand. She shook her head. "When I pinch this nerve, it won't go back to normal. I hope you know that..." Still nothing. He pressed down and was rewarded with a scream.

"Fine!" She said, feeling the warmth of a damaged nerve run up her arm. "The Grimoire is with Marc. IF you killed him and it wasn't with him, I won't know where to find it."

"Are you sure?" Damon said, turning her hand over.

"Yes! I'm sure!" She said.

"Where can we find Marc?" He asked, reaching for her other hand.

"You said he was—"

"Dead? I lied." The look on her face was anger and annoyance. Suddenly, she smiled.

"Well then, you shouldn't be watching me. Somebody should be watching the little brunette that's always following you two around."

"Elena?" Stefan said, eyes widening.

"Ah. That's her name. Yes, Elena." She said.

"How do you—"

"It wasn't hard to peek in your heads once you were unconscious. After that, finding your home and collecting things of hers was easy." She said, smug. She was flexing her hand, wincing at the pain.

"You were at the boarding house?" Stefan said, surprised and upset.

"Who do you think brought you back and dumped you into your beds? I'd worry less about the semantics, and more about watching little miss Elena. It doesn't take very long to kill a human...a little aneurism, maybe meningitis...either way, I'd suggest being on your best behaviour." Stefan flashed towards her, pushing Damon out of the way and bending to her eye level. The last few days had pushed him out of balance, and he was definitely angry and agitated.

"If you hurt her, the last thing you'll be worried about is an aching hand..." He said, breathing lowly. Damon smiled. He loved it when his brother was interesting.

"Too late. You've already given me her name. That's all that Marc still needed..." She closed her eyes, smiling as she started chanting a barely audible whisper. Stefan lunged, his large hands fitting easily around the woman's neck. He wanted her to stop talking, that instant. It had been decades since he'd been this angry; since he'd been willing to take human life.

"Stefan, calm yourself." Damon said, standing from where he'd landed on the floor. He stood to pull his brother away, but he found himself launched across the room; no match for the strength of his own body. He was dizzy.

The woman chanted louder, desperate to make the name go through to Marc before she lost consciousness. Her chanting drove Stefan to push down hard, resulting in a resonating crack. She fell limply onto the couch. He took a breath, relieved and hoping that the mysterious warlock didn't know Elena's name. It was then that he realized that the front door was open, and a female figure was standing, in shock.

"Stefan...?" It was Elena.

* * *

"Elena?" Stefan was shocked. "How did you..." She silently walked towards him, holding out her hand and pressing it to his chest. He looked down, following her gaze. It landed on what seemed to be a mood ring, which was now turning a deep azure blue. She looked at him, pale and sick, stepping back.

"You _killed _her!" She said, eyes wide. "Stefan, I..." She didn't know what to say. She'd expected this kind of behaviour from Damon, but she'd _never_ expected it from Stefan.

"Elena, she was going to kill you." He said, looking into her shocked and disgusted face.

"She's a _human_, Stefan." She shook her head. "Is it that easy for you to take life?" She said. "Have you been hiding this from me?"

"Elena, it's the switch; it's made me not myself and I—"

"You what, Stefan?" She said, stepping back again. Damon stood slowly, watching the argument in silence. "You all of a sudden are willing to just...to just do _that_?" She looked at the woman's lifeless body, suddenly nauseous.

"She was going to _kill you_, Elena!" He said, as thought repeating it would make it matter. She looked from him to Damon before turning to leave. "How did you find me?" He said.

"Your iPhone. I used the locator app." She sighed. "I'm going. I can't be here right now" She said, disappearing down the hall. Her head was swimming, and she needed out of there. She flipped open her phone, dialling Caroline. She really wanted to talk to Bonnie, but given her dislike of Vampires, the last thing she needed to hear was that the one she somewhat trusted had just killed someone. The phone rang, and Elena felt tears swell from her eyes. It picked up.

"Elena?"

"Caroline, can I come over?" She said, trying to hold the tears back until she got into the car.

"Elena, what's wrong? I'm not at home, but I can be there in ten." She said, the voice of a concerned parent. As over the top as Caroline could be, she was still there when her friend needed her.

"I'll meet you there...it's Stefan." She said, muffling a sob. She slammed the door to the car just as the tears spilled over.

"What about him hun?" She asked. Elena could hear Caroline's signal light in the background.

"Caro, he...he killed someone."

* * *

"Oh my god..." Stefan said, looking around and realizing what he'd done.

"I told you to calm down." Damon said. "Although, you definitely did a good job pretending to be me. Too bad it wasn't yesterday..."

"Damon, the last thing I need is you speaking." He shook his head. He didn't know what to do about Elena, about the switch, or about the dead woman in front of them. He wasn't the kind of person to kill people, was he? It wasn't like he could pretend that his vampire instincts had taken over; this woman was still full of blood. He sighed, sliding his face in his hands.

"I would have expected that from you in your normal body, I have to say." Damon said, pulling a sheet out of one of the closets and laying it out on the floor. "This thing is screaming at me all day to kill. You finally get a break from it and murder someone. Odd." He pulled the woman's body off the couch and onto the sheet, carefully wrapping it around her. He'd seen Elena's face, and he knew that this would hit her hard. He was worried for her; she loved Stefan—no – she loved the _idea_ of Stefan, and that idea had just been shattered. He knew what it felt like, and he knew she'd need someone to explain it all away; something he had no intention of doing. _This_ was his brother. This was how he'd always been, and he'd known that the changed version he'd presented to Elena couldn't last. _That_ was what hurt him the most when he watched them together; knowing that Stefan was lying to her and himself. Damon wasn't the best guy in the world, but at least he was honest.

"What are you doing?" Stefan said, watching.

"Someone has to clean this up." He murmured. He'd help clean up more than just the mess at the apartment. He'd help Elena, too.


	6. When?

**AN: Hey! Sorry about the length between updates. I had major writer's block on this one, in addition to my fiancé forgetting valentines! Needless to say, I was in a mood. He was thoroughly shamed, and surprised me with a belated valentine's day last night, so here I am! The song is "Complicated" by Retrograde.**

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* * *

**

Elena was definitely shaken up, and Caroline wasn't sure what to say. She never would have guessed that Stefan had flat-out killed someone; when Elena had said it, she thought it was an accident. Elena's sobs from her lap reminded her that it had actually happened.

"Did he say why?" She said, stroking her hair.

"Because she would have killed me. I can't see how that's possible, though. Even if it was true, the Stefan that I know would have found another way!" She said, sitting up. "He tried to blame it on the switch, but I know that it shouldn't make that big of a difference." Elena had told Caroline about the switch, and it sounded downright bizarre.

"You're right, Elena." She said. In reality, she wasn't sure. Vampire instincts were a lot stronger than humans understood, and the instinct to kill was definitely at the forefront of their minds at all times. Stefan would be no different. "Did Damon do anything about it?" She asked

"No, he wasn't strong enough in Stefan's body, even after drinking human blood." Elena said, wiping her eyes. She didn't normally cry like this; but it felt like she had been lied to.

"Is there anything I can do?" Caroline said, wanting to help her friend.

Elena smiled. "You already helped by letting me cry" She said. In reality, she was still reeling. "I should get home; Jenna's making a huge dinner tonight, courtesy of Damon's recipes." She said, smiling halfheartedly.

"What are you going to tell her, Elena? You know Jenna, she'll pick up on your mood."

"I'll tell her the truth." She said. "Stefan and I are over."

* * *

When she got home, Jenna was putting the finishing touches on dinner. Elena had stopped crying on the drive home, but she could feel the puffiness in her face, and she knew that Jenna would pick up on her mood. She walked to the kitchen, wanting to get the conversation over with before Alaric and Jeremy came down.

"Elena, you're back" Jenna smiled, laying out cutlery. She looked at Elena sideways when she saw the expression and state of her face. "Is everything alright?" She asked.

"I...Stefan and I are over." She said, running her finger around the edge of one of the plates. Jenna looked up, shocked.

"What?" She said, a hint of disbelief present.

"He's not who I thought he was" She said.

"Are you ok?" She asked. "You don't have to eat with everyone else...I know that would be tough".

"I might actually take you up on that today. I know you put a lot of work into dinner; I'll have some later for sure" She said, half smiling. The last thing she felt like doing was sitting down to a family meal, and she felt guilty. Jenna really had put a lot of work into dinner.

"No problem kiddo" Jenna said, pulling her plate off the table. "Believe me, you're doing a lot better than I ever seemed to when I had a breakup..."

"Thanks, Jenna." Elena said. "I'm gonna go take a nap, I think...if I can get to sleep." She doubted that she would. Jenna nodded, watching her head back upstairs.

Elena locked Jeremy's door to the washroom, after deciding to take a bath. The last thing she needed today was an interruption of that sort, especially when she was feeling this unstable. She turned the tap on for the large claw-foot tub, reaching for a glass jar of blue bath salt. She only used the salt when she wanted to think, or when something was really wrong. Since finding out about vampires, she'd been using her salts a lot. She looked under the sink for a clean towel, realizing that there wasn't one in the bathroom. "Jeremy..." she muttered, walking out of the bathroom, her room, and into the hallway to the linen closet. She reached for a towel on the top shelf, cursing under her breath when she couldn't reach it.

"Need some help?"

Stefan—no—_Damon _leaned against the doorframe of her room, hands nonchalantly in his pockets.

"Not now, Damon." She said. She was in no frame of mind to play games with him today. "I want to be alone." She said, forgetting about her towel. "Besides, the bathwater will overflow."

"I turned it off" he said, half smiling. It was only then that she noticed that she couldn't hear the rushing water. She looked at him, realizing that she was glad he was there. She walked into her room, Damon following.

_[Hello...what is your secret?  
Tell me if you can, what's on your mind?]_

"Oh..." She didn't know what to say or where to begin. What she _did_ know, was that she didn't have to stop herself from talking; she had no one else who would understand. "I don't know what to do" she said.

"Why do you have to do something?" Damon asked, leaning against the foot of her bed. It was so uncanny; knowing that she was talking to Damon, but seeing Stefan. It felt like another world.

"Because Stefan-!"

"Stefan made his choices, Elena." Damon said, soothing her with a voice that was all too familiar. "You aren't responsible for them." Elena sat.

"But he isn't _like that_, Damon." She said, looking at him.

"Elena, he's a vampire. Before he saved you from your parent's car accident, he _was_ like that." He said. It was true; he was shocked by the change he'd found in his brother when he came back to Mystic Falls.

"I don't believe you." She said.

Damon smiled. "I know." In time she would.

"If he was just another monster, why didn't you warn me before?" She said.

"Because I thought...I thought that maybe you _had _changed him. You were so happy; I couldn't ruin that...at first I thought he was being selfish, and then I believed that he really loved you. Besides, it wasn't hard to see how in love with him you were." He watched Elena look away, then back at him. She hadn't been sure that she really loved Stefan until recently, and even then...it didn't feel right.

_[Hello there...I saw you laughing,  
So innocent, enjoying your life.]_

"I _love_ him, but I don't think I've ever been _in love_ with him..." she looked at Damon. "There's always been something missing; honesty." She ran a finger over her necklace. Stefan had always been willing to hide things from her, regardless of her opinion.

"Honesty can be overrated." Damon said.

"No, it can't be. You've always been honest with me, and that's part of the reason that I trust you." She said. "Even when..."

"Even when what?" he asked.

"Even when you told me how you felt about me." She said. It had twisted her in knots since, and she'd felt guilty around Stefan, even though she'd done nothing.

"But I—"

"I drank vervain tea. You needed to believe that the compulsion worked, and I...I needed to believe that I was with the right person." She said. "The amount of times..." There was a lump in her throat. She was admitting things that she'd never expected to. Damon looked at her expectantly through Stefan's green eyes, and she felt like both of them were in the room. She touched her hand to his arm, watching the ring on her hand turn to a burning crimson red. "The amount of times that I've imagined what we'd be like together is unimagineable."

_[We've become complicated...  
Can't tell right from wrong...]_

She swallowed. "And hearing that you really felt the same, and knowing that you didn't confess to hurt me or split Stefan and I up...it made me realize that I'd made a stupid choice." She said.

"You're rebounding, Elena" he said, no willing to look her in the eye. Hearing her say these things was giving him false hope, and tearing him apart at the same time. She was looking for someone to reach out to, and he wasn't stable enough.

"No, I'm not." She said. "I've been thinking about you and I for months, Damon. I stopped seeing Stefan in my dreams months ago..." She hadn't expected this to ever come to the surface. "I was just too scared to make the right choice."

Damon laughed darkly. "Elena, I'm the furthest thing from the right choice. I'm probably as far as you can get from being safe; from being safe." He said. "You had to choose Stefan; you _should_ choose Stefan." He said. He hated the words that were coming out of his mouth, but he would rather scare her away now than have her realize that he was right weeks, months...even years down the road.

_[We are so complicated,  
Is anything ever really wrong?]_

"You're so passionate, and destructive. Stefan was the _safe_ choice, but not the right one." She stood, walking in front of him. "I'm not in love with you yet, Damon, but I could be. I've been fighting my feelings away from you for so long...if I _let_ myself feel them, I could get lost in you right now." She stepped forward, tears brimming in her eyes. Damon looked away.

"Do you mean everything you're saying?" he asked.

"Of course!" She said, shocked by his question. "Do you think I would lie to you about this?".

He stood, looking down at her, and she could see the difference in his expression. This was definitely Damon, and she felt herself react. She wanted him, in more ways than one. He spoke.

"Elena, I love you, and if I were to let myself fall for you completely only to be shot down...I wouldn't be able to take that."

"I know, Damon." She said, taking his hand. He pulled away, catching her eyes with the intensity of Stefan's...an intensity that only Damon could give to the greenish eyes.

"You have to be sure, Elena. When I lose control, people die."

"I'm sure."

Damon looked at her for possibly the longest seconds of her life, before something changed in his expression. She could see him thinking.

_[Tell me,  
Are we the same now?]_

"Fine."

His lips met hers.


	7. Up

**AN: Here it is! This one's a little filler as well, but the next chapter is when things get more fast-paced. I have the next 6 chapters mapped out, so hopefully this will be a smooth writing process. Thank-you to those who review, it's really a motivator to keep writing!**

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* * *

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Stefan paced back and forth in the library of the boarding house, waiting for Damon. He didn't know where his brother had run off to, but he knew that he'd have to come back at some point. What he didn't know was how to face Elena. He really thought that she'd changed him; taken away the darker part of him that Lexi was only able to mask. He'd never actually gotten better; he'd only gotten more determined to make things _work_. Deep down, he was still the reckless favourite younger brother; the one who never had to account for his actions. He stopped pacing, and he suddenly knew where he wanted to go; _Katherine._

_

* * *

_

"Fine."

His lips met hers.

Elena was shocked at first, then pushed him back sheepishly. "Damon, no" She said.

"No?" He was definitely confused. She must have been realizing what a bad idea this was, and she was going to tell him to leave. That had to be it. He opened his mouth to speak, but she stopped him.

"Until you've got your body back, you still look like..."

Damon looked at himself, his sense of dread dying down when he realized that he was still in Stefan's body. "Ah, Right." He said, almost embarrassed. "The whole 'Stefan's body'thing." He smiled, stepping back.

"Just...focus on getting switched back." She said. "I'll help in any way that I can, but I'm guessing you're not going to make that easy." She smiled.

"Why would I do something like that?" Admitting her feelings had changed nothing in that regard; he still didn't want her to be in harm's way. If she was going to end up there, it would be her own fault. He knew that more than likely he'd end up saving her more than once, but he'd like to keep it to a minimum.

* * *

"Katherine?" Stefan tilted his head, waiting for an answer. He knew that she was still in the tomb, something that was convenient and inconvenient at once.

"Well well, finally decided to pay me a visit?" She said. She was decrepitly sitting on the ground near the door, withering away.

"Something like that"

"Visiting hours are over; unless you have blood, that is." She eyed him languidly. Elena was fiery, but Katherine was downright sinful; something he'd missed. He didn't have to pretend with Katherine; he really _was_ the better one.

He held up a deep red bag. "Well then, I'm allowed to be here." He walked into the tomb, handing her the bag. She reached a hand up to grab it and smirked. "Glad to see you can waltz in and out when you please" Elijah had disappeared, and she was stuck in the tomb until further notice.

"Benefits of having your doppelganger sweating over my safety." He said, smirking. She still didn't know what had happened.

"In case you didn't notice, Damon, Elena's all wrapped up in _Stefan._ Sorry, you lose." She smiled, pulling the straw from the bag. "Again."

"Ouch." He said, feigning hurt. "Problem is, I'm not Damon." Katherine laughed, but realized that he wasn't joking. She looked at him sideways.

"Well then, to whom do I owe the pleasure of this visit?" She asked, starting to sip the crimson liquid.

"I'll give you a little hint." He said. "Elena's all on her own now." It was remarkable how little it bothered him...the switch on his emotions was still in tact.

"Stefan?" Katherine asked, eyeing him curiously. A smirk spread across her face. "This is definitely interesting. It's almost like I'm still playing games with both of you."

"When exactly did you stop?" he asked, watching her sip deeply from the bag.

"Never." She looked away thoughtfully as she drank. "So...I imagine you got yourself in this after annoying Emily's little...descendant?" If that was the case, the little witch had put in some serious practice time.

"An entire coven, actually."

She laughed. "Well, you've screwed yourself, then. Where are they now?"

"Dead."

"You're out of luck, then. You'll need the warlock of the coven to switch you back. If you've killed him..."

Stefan remembered the dream that Damon had described, and the mysterious "Marc". "He's alive, I just don't know where to look. Damon's more resourceful than I am." It was true. Knowing as many people as his brother did was an upside that Stefan couldn't enjoy.

"I suggest you get going, then. I've seen vamps switched before; you don't have long before your powers start to fade and your age catches up with you. Really _not_ a look I want to see on you." She emptied the bag.

"You've seen this before?" Of course she had. If there was one person who seemed to have connections to everything, it was Katherine.

"Bring me some more blood, and I'll play truth or dare."

Stefan smiled. "Fine."

* * *

No matter how much he used it, Damon was always in somewhat awe of the cell phone. Messages which used to go by horse and rider were now sent in seconds, and conversations which took place by wire transfer were now connected in seconds around the world. Right now, he was hoping one of those connections could lead him to 'Marc.'

"Stefan?"

"Wrong, Damon" He said, knowing his voice was that of his little brother. "but-|

"Ric, I'll explain later. Can you pull up some old info? Maybe your hot little connection at Duke can help us out."

"Sure? It depends on what you need..."

"Anything on _Spirits of the Eastern Dawn_, a witches' coven."

"The ones you went after a few days ago?" he asked.

"Exactly. Anything on switching bodies would be _immensely_ appreciated also...being my little brother is getting irritating."

"What the—"

"I told you, later. Let me know when you find something."

"Where are you?" he asked

"I'm pulling up to the boarding house. Talk later." He hung up. Alaric was good at getting information, but he needed guidance normally. He headed into the house, closing the door firmly behind him. It had only been around a week since the switch had happened, but he was already feeling the effects. He was tired, aching, and he needed blood.

* * *

Alaric flipped through his contacts, knowing someone who might have information. He'd dated a woman a while back (before Isobel), who was part of the coven for a while as a part of an anthropological study. He didn't know what information he'd get from her, but she'd be able to tell him who to contact. He found her number, and he listened as the dial-tone rang.

"Hello?"

"Anne? It's Alaric."

"Ric? No way! I haven't heard from you in _ages_!"

"True, although you _did_ run off to an island for two years to study."

He heard her laugh. "True. Not your fault! You're lucky actually, you caught me getting back from a study. What's up?"

"Well, I have a student whose doing a project on the _Spirits of the Eastern Dawn_, and I was wondering if you'd be able to fax over a background on them. I want to make sure I know my stuff before marking their paper."

"Teaching still, eh? No problem. I have the write-ups that I did for the six months I was there...I'm sure you'll be able to get a good grasp out of those. I'll have to warn you though, some things aren't too believeable." There was hesitancy in her voice.

"Oh? Like what?"

"Some of their spells...they seemed to actually work." She said. "I assumed they were a naturalist coven when I arrived, but from what I learned they're actually practicing magic."

"Like hocus pocus?" It was important for her to know that he didn't believe in magic. Anne was the kind of person who would blow the lid off of the existence of vampirism, which was the last thing he wanted.

"Yes, exactly. You'll find what you need to know in the write-ups, but know that whatever far-out story your student is telling might be true."

"I'll keep that in mind." He said. "Are you going to be around in the next two weeks? I might need to call you up again o verify some facts.

"I'm heading out again, this time on vacation next Monday, so no. What I _can_ do is give you the number to the overseer of the coven, though. He was very helpful when I was there, and I'm sure he'd be thrilled to hear that students are showing an interest."

"I'd really appreciate that." Ric said, grabbing a pen and paper.

"Great! His number is 540-669-7824, and I think it's his cell. We still talk from time to time."

"Sounds good. What's his name?"

"Oh, right! IT's Marc. His name is Marc, with a 'C' at the end."

"Thanks Anne, and don't be afraid to call and catch up sometime."

* * *

Stefan didn't know what was wrong, but he couldn't run as fast as usual when heading back to the boarding house. There was no way the switch was affecting him already, was there? It didn't seem likely. One thing he knew for certain was that he was hungry again, and he needed to find a meal. His head was pounding, and his body felt like it had been backed over by a transport. Not the best day.

Seeing Katherine outside of the context of Elena had felt...good. It was good. There were no expectations from Katherine, no standards to be held up to, and she understood the need to kill. Had he known that Katherine was still alive when he'd met Elena, he guessed—no, he _knew_ that things would have turned out differently. He would have been free to his nature. There were a few times with Elena that he actually believed he'd done wrong; that he actually _felt _the weight of what he'd done, but he was free from that now. Free to feel nothing, free to do what he wanted. Right now, he wanted to hunt.


	8. Down

**AN: Good news! I ended up having two surprise midterms (well...not really surprise. I just didn't know about them), so I got a lot of time to write after finishing them. I won't lie, I've been a little distracted as I'm a tiny bit obsessed with Godric (True Blood) right now. He melt my heart! Anyways, thanks again to those of you who faithfully review, you're awesome! Happy reading!**

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_Two Weeks Later..._

Elena sat in the passenger's seat of the Camaro, her leg bouncing in odd anticipation. Damon never expected to be taking her to final exams (it was something so normal...) but he had to be a stand-in for Stefan, who had disappeared along with Damon's body. As far as the townspeople knew, Stefan was still in school, but was somewhat more lippy and drove his brother's Camaro. Overall, the last two weeks had been fairly uneventful.

Alaric had been in contact with someone whom apparently knew quite a bit about the coven, and who was openly dispelling information. From what the person could tell, the coven had simply vanished. Damon had every intention of meeting the mysterious informant, but he had to weave his way around Alaric first; something that had gotten a lot harder as the days went by. Damon was aging already; he could feel it. He wasn't nearly as strong as before, and his vampiric abilities were slowly eroding away. His compulsion was shaky at best, and his healing was slowing down at a rate that was making him nervous. He had to switch back, and sooner the better.

"You'll be fine, Elena" he said, watching her nervous fidgeting. From what he'd seen over the last week, she hated exams and was very, very scared of them. It was downright funny, really, and he caught himself holding back a laugh.

"What's so funny, Damon?" She demanded, furrowing her brow.

"You're so worried about something _so_ insignificant." He said. "It'll be fine. What's the worst that could happen?"

"I fail and don't go to college?" She said. "It may be insignificant for _you_, Mr. Eternal life, but until further notice, _I'm_ still mortal, meaning I still have a fast-approaching future to think about." She huffed, then smiled. "You have exams today too." She said matter-of-factly. "I'll bet you won't do too well on them. You barely cracked a book open!"

"Elena, I lived through the civil war. I think I can handle a history exam." He said.

"Oh? What about math? Biology? It'll be fun to pick through your papers." She said. In truth, he probably wouldn't do to well. He wasn't sure what they were teaching now, but he probably hadn't picked it up while drifting aimlessly around North America. He spent some time studying in Canada, but it had been over a decade ago. What Elena didn't know was that he'd been spending hours every night reading about the coven. He had to find a way to track down the Warlock, and the faster the better.

"We're here, stop your complaining." He said, shaking his head. The action made him nauseous, and Elena gave him a questioning glance.

"Is it getting worse?" She asked, pressing a hand to his cheek. Whenever the switch started giving him problems, his cheeks were warm; something that probably hadn't happened in over a century. Damon had told her about the aging, and she was glad. Knowing about it meant that she could help him in whatever way possible, and it made her feel better.

"Worse is a funny word..." he looked up. "But yes. When I get nauseous, it's worse." Elena looked at him with concern, but knew that there wasn't much she could do outside of giving him blood; a bad idea in a parking lot. She looked at her watch.

"Crap!" she said. "We have to get going! Are you ok to be in the school...?" What he knew she meant was: 'are you ok to be sick and around a hundred people who smell like blood?'.

"I'll be fine." He opened the dash, showing her the bag he'd tossed in with an icepack. "You go ahead, I'll catch up to you in a minute." Elena smiled uncertainly, but knew she had to rush in.

"Hurry, ok?" She didn't like being without him.

"Right behind you."

* * *

The town was much smaller than he imagined. It was hard to picture Vampires living in such a place, with so few bodies to choose from, and so much sunlight. Finding vampires was easy in the northern parts of the world, but this far south? They'd have to be sleeping nearly around the clock. The gravel of an aging sidewalk crunched under his feet as he walked, and he smiled as he saw the high school in the distance.

Marla had contacted him just over two weeks ago with a name: Elena Gilbert. After that, he'd gone to her apartment, and he'd gotten an idea of what had happened based on the memories attached to the room. She'd died in there, but he couldn't pick out which vampire had killed her. It didn't matter; if he got the girl, he'd have the vamps, and he'd be able to make his presentation to Klaus.

Marc closed his eyes, beginning to whisper Elena's name under his breath. After a few minutes and hard concentration, he opened his eyes, smiling. He looked ahead into the parking lot and saw her running into the school, panicked.

* * *

Damon downed the bag of blood as quickly as possible, black spots dotting his vision. He let Elena know when things like this happened, but he tried to keep how worried he was hidden. He was scared. He slung the empty bag back into the dash of the Camaro before getting out and walking into the school.

The hallways were empty, and he guessed that everyone was piled into exam rooms. He headed down the main hall towards Alaric's history room, where he was supposed to be writing. He stopped, hearing another set of footsteps ahead. He walked around the corner, putting on his best worried student face. He didn't expect who he found: The warlock from the coven. They stared at each other for a second, and Damon watched the man's eyes widen, and he lunged, missing the warlock by a hair.

Damon saw him dart through the doors of the auditorium, and he followed, being met with the blackness of the room. His eyes were definitely not seeing as well as they should have been, and although the room was still brighter than it would have been with human eyes, Damon was having trouble. He cursed as a chair broke on his shin, splintering into a thousand tiny pieces. _At least I'm still unbreakable._ He thought. He heard the doors on the opposite end of the auditorium, click open, and he darted towards it, slamming into it just as it closed. He was really _really_ hating the switch right now. He pushed the door open, cringing as it smashed into the wall and off its hinges. His strength phased in and out, and it was impossible to tell when he'd be strong or weak.

He stopped, listening for the man's footsteps, and he smiled as he heard them. He shot down a hallway, skidding to a halt at the end and turning, hearing a metallic clang. He heard breathing, and he wasn't sure where from. The small hallway he'd turned onto was liked with tall lockers, all the doors closed. He walked slowly, clicking his tongue.

"You're making some _very_ bad decisions..." he said, grinning in annoyance. "...and all the witchy tricks in the world won't be able to put you back together once I have my body back." He hissed. He heard a shuffle and turned to the locker to his left, baring his fangs. It was odd, but he didn't feel the telltale veins spread around his eyes. "Now, are you coming quietly, or do I get to have a little fun?" he leaned close to the locker, looking through the slots in the top and seeing the eyes of the warlock staring back at him.

"Well well-!" The door smashed open! It caught Damon in the face, wrapping around his head and leaving an imprint, his body unflinching. He could hear the warlock dash out of the small metal lockbox, and he swore, bending the metal back from around his head. It ripped off the hinges, and he whipped it at the man, narrowly missing him, but causing him to fall off balance and skid across the floor. Damon lunged, baring his fangs again. The man held a hand up, a piece of scribbled paper in his palm.

Damon blacked out.

_Eyes open. Heavy. Very heavy._

_Footsteps, muffled yelps, dragging. He was being moved. _

Blackout.

_Eyes open, silver; a gun. Dragging, dragging..._

Blackout.

"_I'm not leaving him!"_

"_You don't have a choice. In the trunk, or I shoot him. I don't have to tell you what a wooden bullet will do."_

_Elena, stepping into the trunk of the Camaro._

_Hands fishing in pockets._

_Keys._

Blackout.


	9. Forward

**AN: Wow! I couldn't believe how fast the reviews were coming in last night! You guys are awesome! Here's the next chapter, hope you enjoy!**

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"Why are you doing this?" Elena demanded, glaring at the man in front of her. She couldn't see Damon...she hadn't seen him since the school parking lot. She was tied to what seemed to be an office chair, and from her lack of mobility apparently the wheels were broken.

"Why does anyone do anything, Elena?" He said, pulling out a thick book which looked similar to Emily's Grimoire.

"You're the one who switched them, aren't you?" She said, watching him flip through the pages.

"Yes." He tore out a page.

"Why? It could _kill_ them!"

"Obviously. That's the point." He said, tearing out another page.

"What?" Elena said in disbelief.

"Well" he said "I couldn't get to you with the two of them constantly around, so why not make them as weak as I am?"

Elena shook her head. "What do you want with me?"

He turned. "What does anyone want from you, Elena?" he said.

"There are a lot of things that could fill that blank." She was annoyed.

He smiled. "Klaus." He said. "But that's enough answers for you. Here" he said, holding up a piece of tape. "I have things to do, and you speaking is distracting." He placed it over her mouth, tilting his head at her annoyed expression. "Be good."

* * *

Damon had been sliding in and out of consciousness for hours, and in-between blackouts he realized that he'd been dumped off the side of the road to the boarding house. It was only after a lot of interrupted thought that he decided to make his way to Bonnie's house. He didn't expect her to want to help him, but he knew she would...especially as Elena had disappeared. After blacking out twice on the way, he could see the two-story house through the trees. He bolted for the patio, relieved that he was still conscious as he knocked on the door.

What if she wasn't home? He realized, cursing under his breath. He had no idea what time it was or how long he'd been in his blackouts, but the sun was definitely in a different place in the sky. Even if she wasn't writing an exam, she'd probably be out somewhere with friends on a day like this; so sunny and warm. He heard the deadbolt turn, and he sighed in relief. When Bonnie opened the door, he could have hugged her, but he blacked out. Again.

* * *

Bonnie opened the door to find Damon waiting anxiously. Before she could open her mouth to make a retort about him being there, he passed out, crumpling to the patio floor as he sunk from consciousness.

"What the hell?" She said, looking at him. She looked up and down the street before pulling him through the doorway, making sure no one saw. She had to use all of her bodyweight to drag him into the house, shutting the door and stopping for a breather once he was inside. He moved, raising his head and looking around, disoriented.

"Stay down" Bonnie said, shifting to kneel by his head. "You're safe." She watched him run a hand through his hair, and she caught sight of something white. "Wait, turn your head" she said, sliding a hand under the back of it. She pulled a piece of crumpled paper off the back of his skull, shaking her head. Damon turned his head back, confused.

"What's that?"

"a paper talisman." She said. "It was causing your blackouts."

"What? Why didn't it come off?" he said. He'd assumed that it was his abilities slipping away.

"It sticks to whomever it's placed on. It's a talisman that's supposed to only work on humans, and it's supposed to keep them unconscious until it's removed." She said, reading what seemed like scribbles to Damon. "Because your powers disappear and return randomly, the talisman could only affect you when you were in a humanish phase." She'd been reading about switches with humanoid immortals; there was a lot of information.

"_humanish_ phase?" he said, sitting up.

"The switch turns you human first. It's impossible for a vampire to age, and as such it reverses what happened when you turned. I suggest you watch yourself. Timelines vary, but from what I've read you should be fully human within two months. Stefan also."

Damon's face cast over with realization: he'd lose any and all ability to protect Elena. Suddenly, the pressure to get switched back was deafeningly apparent.

"How many abilities have you lost already?" she asked.

"None so far entirely, but I'm weaker...and my strength comes in waves. Sometimes I could destroy a car, and other times I'd be lucky to fight off a guard dog."

"We need to work fast, then." She said.

"Says the one who _isn't_ waiting to be turned back into an appetizer." He raised an eyebrow. "Believe me, I know." Bonnie would have laughed at the Damon-like expression on Stefan's face, but she figured it would be out of place.

"If you came to be healed or something, I can't do it. I'm not strong enough."

"I didn't come to be healed. I need you to find Elena." He said.

"_Find _Elena?" Bonnie asked quizzically.

"She's missing; the warlock took her." Bonnie nodded, and pulled out a map of the area.

"Let's do it."

* * *

Stefan stepped into a large colonial house, relieved that he didn't have to be invited in. It was remarkable that he'd been able to find Elijah's American residence, and it was also interesting that he didn't have a human guarding it. It had taken long enough to find, and he was glad that the building was human-free. Unfortunately, Elijah wasn't there, making Stefan's trip longer. He'd have to wait for Elijah to get back.

He headed up one of the double staircases, deciding that checking out the house would help the time go by. It hadn't occurred to him until recently just how much of a pain stairs were; he'd gotten used to flashing up them, but over the last two weeks he'd been getting headaches when he moved too quickly...something that he wasn't enjoying. After talking to a friend from years ago, he'd learned a bit more about the switch, and from what he'd been told...switching back quickly was priority number one. Luckily, Damon's body was much stronger than his own, and he'd been managing the effects of the switch fairly well. Of course, his newly re-adopted human blood diet was helping.

He pushed open a door, being greeted with sunlight streaming through the window of an office. The office was surprisingly modern, something he didn't expect from Elijah. He slowly scanned the shelves, reading the titles and comparing the collection to his own; Elijah's was much larger, but he was missing some classics that Stefan considered mandatory. The few shelves that weren't full of books were heavy with various items from different times. From what Stefan could tell, they were separated by age and location; things as small as necklaces and bullets, and as large as axes (which hung on one wall). It was an interesting mix for sure, modern and ancient. One shelf stood out from the others, holding a single blade. Stefan reached for it, picking it up off the shelf and examining it. He pulled the blade from a worn leather sheath, and a small piece of aged paper fell out. The paper seemed fairly new, not nearly as old as the blade. He put the blade back down, opening the folded yellow sheet and reading.

* * *

Bonnie sat next to Jeremy (whom she'd called immediately after finding out what Damon needed) who was now holding his hand over the map, watching Bonnie mutter, her eyes pressed shut. As the blood moved, Damon felt nervous jitters, something that he _definitely_ hadn't felt in years. Finally, when it felt like he couldn't wait any longer, it was done.

"She's here" She said, pointing to the collected blood. It hovered over a residential area only ten miles from where they were sitting. Damon jumped up.

"Wait!" Bonnie said. "Take this." She handed him a strip of paper with scribbled symbols on it.

"What?"

"It's another talisman. This one will stop others from working on you." Damon looked at her for a moment, unsure.

"Fine."

Bonnie lifted his shirt and pressed it to his back, settling the fabric back over it again. "Now GO!"

* * *

It couldn't be! A dagger for killing an original? It made sense that Elijah would have it; what better way to stop it from surfacing than to keep it to yourself. Stefan picked up the dagger, re-sheathing it and tucking the paper back in. He picked up the jar of ash that had been sitting with it as well. With this, he wouldn't need to ask Elijah's help to get Katherine out of the tomb. From what he could tell, all the information he needed was there, on the jagged-edged little page. He'd seen the handwriting somewhere else before, but he couldn't remember where.

He slid the dagger into Damon's leather jacket and made his way out of the house.

* * *

Elena watched the man pile the torn out pages in front of him, pulling out a large manila envelope and sliding them in. He'd torn six pages out in total, and from what Elena could tell, he was paying particular attention to each one. All six pages were sitting in page protectors and he handled them with care.

"You're pretty bad at hide and seek"

Elena turned, hearing Stefan's voice with Damon's characteristic sarcasm. The man caught a breath in his throat, scrambling for a piece of paper on the desk. "And you're getting pretty bad at being a vampire." He said, grabbing a piece and turning around. Damon flashed towards him as fast as he could, coming up short as he was hit in the forehead with another piece of paper. It fell off.

"What the..." The man said, eyes narrowing as he realized what was going on. He didn't have time to think about it for long, Damon had a firm hold on his neck, and before long he was flat on his back, staring at the ceiling. "Someone's got a witch friend. The same little one we were harassing, I imagine."

"Friend, not sure. Your enemy? Definitely." Damon smiled.

"Pressing me to the ground with your body weight, how very _human_." The look on the man's face made Damon's eyes narrow. He smashed the warlock's head against the floor, almost laughing as he went unconscious, splinters from the floor landing around his head.

"Humans wouldn't smash in your floorboards with your skull." Damon stood, flashing to Elena and untying her. He peeled the tape from her mouth.

"I didn't realize you could still move that fast! Are you ok?" she asked, pressing her hands to his cheeks. They were hot.

"I can, it just feels like being hit by a train afterwards." Her hands felt good; cool against his skin. "Did he say much?"

"Not nearly enough." She said. "But from what I could tell, his Grimoire is on the desk, and he was tearing pages out of it."

"What did he do with the pages?" Damon asked, picking up the Grimoire.

Elena stood. "They're in the manila envelope" she said, pointing. Damon picked it up, sliding it into the pages of the Grimoire.

"Take this." He handed the Grimoire to her. "I saw the Camaro parked outside, I'm going to take care of him; pop the trunk when you're out there, will you?" he pulled the keys out of the warlock's pocket, tossing them to her. She left, and he heard her pull the trunk latch a few minutes later. He tied the man with the same ropes that had been on Elena, picking him up and throwing him over his shoulder, the action making him sick. He needed to change, and he needed to do it fast.


	10. Backward

**AN: Here goes! I'm glad that I mapped this story out! IT's much easier to write when I have something to consult. In other news: I've planned out a sequel to my story **_**Tease Me**_**, so be sure to watch for that, or check out **_**Tease Me**_** if you haven't already.**

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"I'm going to ask you again, and pardon me if my patience is waning, but I'm really _really_ pissed that I'm turning human. Now..." Damon leaned towards the man, "How is Klaus involved in this?"

They'd been in the library of the boarding house all night, but so far the warlock had done nothing but dodge Damon's questions with snide remarks and loopholes. He was getting seriously annoyed, but hadn't physically hurt the man yet; Elena was still there...but that would have to change.

"Elena, you need to leave." He said.

Elena shook her head. "No, I'm staying." She said. She knew full well what to expect from Damon, but she wanted to be there to try to stop him from going too far; something she hadn't figured out how to do quite yet. Damon turned to her, and she could see the annoyance on her face.

"Elena, now isn't the time for this."

"For what? Me to stop you from torturing him?" she said, defiant.

"No, for you to be here while I do. Leave or watch, but I need answers." He said flatly. Elena knew who he was, and that was something she needed to remember. Elena looked at him, slightly put off.

"No."

"Fine." Damon turned, smashing his elbow into the back of the man's immobilized hand, hearing his scream as the bones broke. Elena flinched

"Damon!" she said, pleading and alarmed.

"Not now, Elena." He looked back to the man. "_How is Klaus involved_?" he repeated, annoyed. He didn't feel nearly as threatening as he should; Stefan's eyes weren't as fierce as his. He watched the shivering man think, then speak.

"I owe him a favour."

"What kind of favour?" Damon said, looking him in the eye.

"A big one; the kind it's hard to repay."

"Yes, I get that." He sneered. "Tell me something useful."

"I was going to trade her for Klaus' pardon." He said, eyeing Elena over Damon's shoulder.

"Good. These are the kinds of things you should be telling me." Damon said, patting him harshly on the shoulder. "Now, how is the switch reversed?" The man laughed, and Damon tilted his head. Elena looked away, not wanting to see Damon's reaction. She hated seeing this side of him, and she wasn't sure if she should stay or leave. She heard the man scream again as Damon pressed down on the broken bones, and she left. Damon heard her go, and he smiled at the man.

"Now you're really in trouble." He said. "I suggest being very _very_ nice to me right now."

The man looked up. "You can't! You'd have to kill more people than we did originally, and you'd need two witches of equal power to me; something not very common." He sneered. "And you'd need the original spell. I'm sure you won't find it in my Grimoire." He said. Turning to look at the book sitting across the room.

"These pages?" Damon said, picking up the manila envelope off the desk behind him. The man's face confirmed it. "Little piece of advice: next time blindfold your hostage." The envelope was full of empty pages; On their way back Elena had insisted that they give the real ones to Bonnie, so she could try to decipher them.

"Regardless of you having the pages or not, you're doomed. I've already told Elijah that I have the girl, and he has told Klaus." The man gloated, and it was Damon's turn to laugh.

"Really? You're an idiot. Elijah has no interest in breaking the curse _or_ in working with Klaus. If you're expecting some paranoid original vampire to come here and save you, you're very stupid...and I can't have stupid people around." He said, standing. "It irks me." The man looked at Damon, realizing what he was implying.

"But I told you—"

"What I needed to know." Damon said. What he didn't know is where he'd hide the body...finding places had gotten a lot harder lately.

* * *

"Elena" Elijah said, standing in the doorway of the boarding house. She glared at him, not having expected him to be there.

"Yes?"

"Are the brothers here?" he said, referencing Stefan and Damon.

"Stefan is." She said. She wasn't sure if she should tell him about the switch or not; she'd let Damon decide that. "He's in there." She said, referencing the library. Elijah smiled.

"Thank-you."

He walked past her and into the library, turning the corner as Damon finished wrapping the warlock in a sheet. "Stefan." Elijah said, approaching him.

"Elijah" Damon replied, waiting to see what he wanted before explaining the switch...if he ever explained it to him.

"I'm here to talk to you about Damon."

"What's he done now?" he asked, tying the sheet snugly around the body.

"He took something of mine; something very important. Where can I find him?"

Damon grinned. "Right here."

Elijah looked at the sheet, tipping his head. "Interesting."

"No" Damon said. "we switched bodies. This is the idiot who was responsible." Elijah's face was indiscernible for a moment as he thought.

"I imagine that's why you smell somewhat human...?" Damon nodded, Elijah continued. "That's unfortunate...you don't have much longer left."

"Thanks for reminding me." Damon said, annoyed. Elijah looked at him for a moment.

"You know, I _could_ have you switched back." Damon looked at him, remembering the warlock that worked for Elijah.

"in exchange for Elena, right?" Damon said. Elijah nodded.

"And for your cooperation. My warlock is far more powerful than this bumbling fool was; he would be able to do it with much more ease." Damon shook his head and opened his mouth to speak. He was stopped by Elena.

"I'll do it." She said. Elijah smiled.

"That's more like it."

Bonnie knocked on Luca's door, not wanting to have to confront him after channelling his energy. Luckily, he didn't answer; it was his father.

"Bonnie Bennett. I have some serious questions for you." He said. Bonnie shifted uncomfortably.

"And I need your help." She said. She pulled the page-protected sheets from her bag, handing them to him. "I'll trade you this for your help." She watched him eye the sheets, weighing his options.

"Fine. Come in."

Elena turned to Damon, who was lazily leaned against the desk in the library. Elijah had left, giving them the night to talk about what had just happened before he returned the next day with an outline of what was going to happen. Damon hadn't been impressed.

"Damon, this doesn't have to be a bad thing." She said.

"Really, Elena? He wants to sacrifice you."

"Yes Damon, I know." Hearing this was repetitive, but at least Damon had waited until Elijah left to question her judgement. "But we have enough time to come up with some semblance of a plan." She said. She knew that Damon enjoyed scheming, and that he was notably good at it.

"Elena, even I'm not sure how to plan around this." He said. "I don't think it's even possible."

"Damon, there has to be a way." She said.

"I know, I'm just not sure what it is." He said. "I can give you blood, but that's weak at best. I'm not even sure I'd be able to heal a papercut right now, let alone keep you alive with it."

"I know." She said "I think we should talk to Bonnie. It's a stretch, but she might be able to figure something out"

"Not likely." He said.

"Not likely" she glared at him. "But there's a chance." He loved that about her, her fire. He'd thought it was gone when she'd made the original deal with Elijah, and seeing her want to find a loophole gave him determination. He'd protect her, there had to be a way.

"I need to talk to Linda"

* * *

"They've been switched?" Jonas said, pulling one of the pages out of the protector.

"Yes, and they're already deteriorating."

"That's to be expected." He said.

"How long do they have?" she asked.

"That depends. The longer they're left in each other's bodies, the longer it will take them to get back to their normal strength when switched back."

"How much longer? Days?" she asked.

"No, months. For every week they're in a switched body, they'll need a week to let their body 'turn back'. It's a long process, as their blood will be too weak to restore them right away."

"What the..."

"Switching vampires is one of the cruellest deaths possible, and it's also one of the hardest hits to a vampire's system. Whomever did this was definitely looking to kill them." Bonnie realized why; Elena.

"So they could get to Elena?"

"Most likely, or they wanted to kill the Salvatores." He said.

"They're under your protection, though." She said. "Shouldn't you be switching them back?"

"I wish it were that simple. I would have to kill several people to switch them back at this stage; something I'm not willing to do."

"What do you mean 'at this stage'?" she said, eyeing him.

"If I wait until they're human, I don't have to sacrifice anyone at all."


	11. Left

**AN: Yay! We won again! Now we just have Regionals, and then Nationals! Also fun: I found out that I get to be a flyer next year :D. Anyways, new chapter is up! Hope you guys enjoy :D**

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"If you wait until they're human, won't they die?" Bonnie asked.

"Not at all. They have to be completely human to _begin_ aging, but if they're switched back, the aging won't affect them. It'll progress as normally as if they had been human all along." Bonnie tilted her head, thinking. She had no reason not to trust him, but he hadn't been the most trustworthy person she'd met. She'd have to talk to at least Damon and Elena and figure out what would happen from there.

"What do I have to do to get you to help us?" she asked.

"First, I'll need his Grimoire. If I'm going to perform the spell, I'll need to know his individual tendencies. Second, I need to know that Elena is willing to work with Elijah." He said.

"Why is that so important?" Bonnie questioned. She hadn't understood why anyone would help someone willing to harm people, and she couldn't think of a reason that would justify it.

"That's something you'll find out eventually." He said. He wanted to tell her, but he couldn't risk it. He'd lost one child already, and he had no intention of losing Luca as well...something he knew that Elijah would be responsible for if he explained his motives to Bonnie.

Bonnie sighed. "I wish I could trust you." She said.

"If there's anyone who can, it's you."

* * *

Stefan slunk back to the boarding house, hoping he wouldn't come across Elena. He needed to talk to Damon, but he didn't feel like he could face Elena. He'd never spoken to her about what had happened at the witches' house, and they'd left without resolving anything. Resolving things was the last thing he wanted to do. He wished desperately that he was still capable of jumping to his second floor bedroom, but he wasn't nearly as strong as he had been. That's why he needed Damon.

He flashed in the door, relieved that he could still move quickly. From the looks of the expansive, empty house, there was no one home. He sighed, relieved, and made his way to the library, where he'd wait for Damon. He sat on the sofa in the large, cluttered room, reaching for a book on the side table.

"I didn't think you'd come back."

It was Damon. Stefan turned, hearing what should have been his voice speak to him.

"Surprise." He said, turning back around.

"Why are you here?" he could hear the characteristic edge of Damon's speech, and he smiled. They were still themselves.

"I have something you'll want, and I want my body back. I figure it'll be a lot easier to switch back if we're in the same city." He really, _really_ wanted his body back. The deterioration of Damon's was scarily bad. When he'd first changed, the sheer power of Damon's body had surprised him. Right now, he felt like he was a Parkinson's' victim. Vampire Parkinson's'...great.

"There are very, _very _few things that I want right now, Stefan. Having you around doesn't count." He was grateful to see that his body was still in one piece; he knew that it would last longer than Stefan's.

Stefan smiled darkly, something Damon hadn't seen since before Elena came into the picture. "This is something you'll _definitely_ want."

"Oh? Show me, and make it quick. I have a lonely ex-girlfriend of yours to take care of." Damon could see that his comment cut, and he didn't care. Abandoning Elena after hurting her was inexcusable. Damon watched as Stefan pulled a long dagger out of his favourite leather jacket, handing it to him and watching, amused. Damon opened the sheath, pulling out first a piece of paper, then the dagger. He read quickly, his eyes widening as he read.

"That's great, Stefan, but it also say we need the ash from some tree." Stefan smiled.

"Right here." He set down the jar of ash, watching his brother's expression. Damon paused.

"The only thing more annoying than you finding this, is you wearing that ridiculous expression on _my_ face." He picked up the ash jar, opening it and sniffing it. "What's the plan?"

"I'm not sure; you're normally the mastermind...I figured this time would be no different."

Damon shrugged. "Fine." He said. "You run off and do...whatever it is you've been doing, and I'll think up a deviously wonderful plan."

"Fine. I do have to say though...I'd behave if I were you, Damon. Your body is much stronger than mine ever was." Stefan smirked at the barely veiled threat. It was nice to know that he had more power, for once.

"And I know more about my body than you ever will. Run along little brother. I have important, scary things to do." Stefan was starting to annoy him; something he was used to but would never enjoy. He watched as his brother shot out of the room, almost disappearing before his eyes. He looked at the blade thoughtfully, deciding what should be done.

* * *

"Did you find it?" Katherine asked, tilting her head. She'd told him where the dagger would be, but he hadn't believed that it would really be there.

"I did." He said.

"Where is it?" She wanted out of the tomb as fast as possible, and that meant killing Elijah.

"It's with Damon." He watched her expression change. "Which is a good thing" Stefan said.

"_How_ is that a good thing?" Katherine said, alarmed.

Stefan leaned against the wall of the cave, smirking. "Well, I took out the part of the text that said the wielder had to be human. Damon dies, Elijah dies, and if your witch can really save my body, I'm switched back."

"Damon being dead benefits me how?" she said, musing.

"Without Damon to protect her, Elena is completely vulnerable. We can take her to Klaus and exchange her for your pardon." He said. "You can stop running."

"Stefan, I have to say I'm impressed." She said. "Damon's always been the schemer, but you've turned over a new leaf" His plan really was good.

"I've been working at it" he said, grinning. Katherine turned to him.

"I've got something else you could work at..." She flashed to him, lips meeting his harshly. Stefan pulled back. Katherine looked at him, puzzled.

"Damon's body" he said, shrugging.

"Both my favourite brothers in one" she said, smiling.

"Katherine, I'd really prefer my own."

"Fine." She huffed. "Time to get your plan going."

Bonnie knocked nervously on the door of the boarding house. She really, really didn't like coming to the large house, especially alone. She almost turned to leave when she heard a car pull into the drive; Elena.

"Bonnie? What are you doing here?" Elena said, slinging her purse onto her shoulder.

"I have some news for you guys." She said.

"Here" Elena said, unlocking the door. Damon had given her a key...he'd started locking it since the switch. "Come on in." She said. Bonnie looked hesitant. "Bonnie, Damon won't hurt you. He's..." she wanted to say different, but he was the same. "stable." It was the best word to describe him; stable. Bonnie followed her in quickly, closing the door behind them.

"Judgey? You're the last person I'd expect to see here." Damon said, swilling a glass of bourbon. He'd actually managed to get himself drunk the previous day, and he had a significantly smaller amount than normal in his glass.

"I have news for you two" she said.

"Like what?"

"Well" Bonnie said, sitting in the library. "The switch is impossible until both you and Stefan are human or as close to human as possible."

Damon shifted uncomfortably. He didn't like the idea of being human again at all. "There's no other way?" he said, confused.

"Not that can be pulled off by Elijah's warlock." She cleared her throat. "Which brings me to my next point; he needs the Grimoire."

"No way." Damon said. The last thing he wanted to do was give Jonas another means of learning new tricks.

"Damon, if you want to stay alive and save Elena, we need to." She said. "but first, we're going to make copies. I want to know as much as possible."

"Fine." He said. "There's something I need from you, too".

"Oh?"

"I want you to find out everything you can about this." Damon pulled the knife out, handing it to Bonnie. The second she touched it, she went into what seemed to be a trance, her eyes wide and unfocused. She stayed like that for a few seconds, blinking when she was done.

"I'll...I'll take this home and look it over." She said.

"I think not." Damon said. "It's safer here, and I don't want it going missing."

"Good enough." She said. She looked at him. "How did you get this?"

"Stefan."

"You saw Stefan?" Elena said, surprised. She didn't like how things had been left, but secretly she was glad that she hadn't run into him. She wasn't ready.

"He stopped in earlier, dropping this off and running off somewhere." Damon said. He had an idea of where he'd gone.

"Off to do what?" Elena said.

"I think he's been talking to Katherine." There weren't many other possibilities...Katherine would have known about the knife, and there was no way Stefan would have found it on his own.

"I think I'm going to be sick" Elena said.

"I can't blame you at all." Said Bonnie. Leaving was one thing, but the possibility of Stefan going to Katherine was downright mean. Either way, they'd find out soon enough.

"What do we do now?" Elena asked.

"We scheme."


	12. Right

**AN: I feel a little sorry for Klaus in the series, because everyone hates/fears him. We'll see a different side in this story. Next chapter we arrive in England!**

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"Still causing trouble, I see"

Katherine watched the tall woman with a smirk. She could always count on Jessebel for anything witchy that she needed done, and right now, she needed to have Stefan's body saved. It was unfortunate that Damon would have to die, but he always put himself into these kinds of positions; between her and what she wanted. If he had to be out of the picture, she'd take him out.

"Of course. Is there any other way to live that I should know about?"

"Well, you could live like a respectable, honest person." She said, smiling.

"You have to know that there's no way I'll consign myself to a life _that_ boring." Katherine said. It was true. If there was one thing she'd learned over the last few weeks, it was that she definitely didn't want to be bored.

"What do you need me for?" Jess asked. As much as she'd helped Katherine over the years, she hated it. She knew she had no other choice, so she always did her best; grudgingly.

"I need you to save a body for me." She said.

"What kind of body?"

"Vampire...ish"

* * *

Damon, Elena, and Bonnie had talked for hours, and they finally had some semblance of a plan. The one thing they'd all agreed on was that they had to contact Klaus before anyone else; giving them the upper hand of no more surprises. Bonnie ran off, needing to speak with Jonas about something, and Elena had taken off to another exam; hoping that she'd actually get to finish this one. Damon stood on the patio of the boarding house, looking at his phone. He didn't know how to contact Klaus, but he _did_ know someone who possibly could tell him what he needed to know (He'd always been resourceful as far as connections went, afterall). Damon dialled the number, rolling his eyes as it went to voicemail.

"Jake, it's Damon, give me a call." He hid the end button and cursed. He thought about Rose, remembering her friend Slater. He felt like there was something he said that was useful, but he couldn't put his finger on what it was.

Craigslist.

* * *

Life had lost its amusement after the first couple hundred years, and Klaus found that he'd been getting bored. His fixation with the Sun and Moon curse was purely a cure to what seemed to be his eternal boredom, and it had kept him busy for a few hundred years. After the amount of time that he'd been alive, it seemed pointless to learn languages and study culture; both of the damn things changed all the time, and he couldn't be bothered to keep up with humanities. Something lately had been slowly changing his mind about the curse of the sun and moon; and nearly daily he found his interest in the curse as waning as his interest in human life. He kept his search going, however, because it meant _she'd_ be with him.

He looked over the young witch sitting below, hunched over another Grimoire. He enjoyed his lodge because of the varying degrees with which he could keep an eye on people, and the isolation of it. The witch was muttering furiously to herself, flipping a page back and forth and jotting down notes about its content. Her dark hair slid off her shoulder in cascading waves, deep amber eyes darting across the pages. She was beautiful. Fine details of her build worked into the sensual curves of her body, and he found himself content to watch her forever. Already he could see how age would affect her, as it had her ancestors.

She was the daughter of some prominent warlock, whom was in league with Elijah. He hadn't been particularly interested in her family or magical ability until he'd laid eyes on her, and he knew that he had to be near her. Hearing her breaths and the soft hum of her flowing blood was both intriguing and endearing. Her mortality appealed to him and made her so much more attractive to him; something he hadn't expected. He watched her sigh and place her head in her hands, exasperated.

"Take a break" he said, looking down from his position in the loft.

"I'm fine, Master." She said, looking up at him. "I can't remember a word, and it's driving me nearly insane."

"I'm not your master" he said. He'd reminded her several times, but she still referred to him as such. "I've waited for years to find an answer; I'm sure I can wait one more day." He said. Those who were under him found his fascination with the witch out of character, and there were those who said that he was going soft (of course they were dealt with swiftly). Even he had initially been shocked by his response, but he'd come to the conclusion that her fascination was inescapable. She smiled at him, closing the book she'd been furiously scribbling from. He tilted his head, curious.

"Why do you stay, when I've said you're free to go?" he said, watching her. She just smiled.

"I don't know."

"Your family is looking for you, you know." He said, knowing Elijah's plans full well. It was futile for him to think that Klaus wouldn't find out.

"I know." She said. "It's unfortunate." She'd already sent them several messages, telling them that she was fine and not to be chased after, but they hadn't given in. She looked at the vampire sitting above her. He was handsome (of course, they all were), but he was also kind; something that no one else would dare describe him as. Over the last few months she'd lost all reason to fear him, and she'd learned that although he was feared by those under him (which was everyone, generally) she had no reason to worry. "If they understood, they'd stop trying to find me." She said. Of course, her family wouldn't give up...her father was far too stubborn to believe that she would fall for her kidnapper.

"If they understood what?" he asked, standing and leaning on the railing of the loft. He watched the pinkish glow of a blush reach her mocha coloured cheeks.

"My feelings for you." She said. She was never quite sure if she was allowed to admit them out loud; if someone overheard, it could be disastrous for Klaus. Elijah would surely be the first to use her to his advantage. He could hear that there was no one around, and he flashed down, standing before her.

"Perhaps if they understood mine, they'd realize that you'll never come to harm." She looked up at him, taking in the statuesque angles of his face. If there was perfection, it was him. They'd never touched, and yet her entire body felt like it was on fire when they were near each other. She'd used her abilities several times to test his emotions, and she'd found them to be an exact mirror of hers; pure adoration and love.

"Whether or not they understand mine, I know you'll never let harm find me" She knew it was true, and it made her sad to know that her family wouldn't believe them. Luca had already responded to her messages, enraged that someone would say 'such a lie' about her feelings. It was piercingly painful. There was something she wanted from him, that she'd been reading about that evening; something she wasn't sure he'd agree to. She looked up at him, catching the cold silver of his eyes with the warmth of hers.

"Feed on me"

* * *

Jonas awoke with a shock. Something was wrong with Daphne; he could feel it. When his children were young he'd cast a spell on them, letting him know when they were physically harmed, and he could sense that Daphne's body was damaged. He closed his eyes, trying to find the source. Whenever he channelled the source of his children's pain, the information came in bits and pieces; hazy, loosely connected, without emotion. He'd gotten quite good at piecing them together (or so he'd thought), and the images flashing to him now were rising a deep-seated anger in him. He could feel it; coiling and ready to snap.

He saw Klaus (or what he assumed to be Klaus based on the pictures Elijah had shown him), fangs, blood, and a Grimoire. He closed his eyes again; a lodge in the mountains. As he focused on the images, he could feel a searing pain in his neck; Daphne was being bitten. He furiously opened his eyes, picking up his phone and dialling.

"Jonas?"

"Elijah, we need to start as soon as possible." He said.

"Wonderful. I'll collect the brothers and Elena. What brought on the change, Jonas?" he asked, surprised at the warlock's sudden lack of patience.

"It's my daughter"

"Ah. Very well; I'll have my agent book tickets for the morning." They finished the call and hung up; each one satisfied with what would be coming in the next few days. Jonas could feel his anger peaking, and he wanted nothing more than to watch that vampire die; he only hoped he'd be the one to do it.


	13. Spinning

**AN: SO, the internet is finally back up, and I'm SO HAPPY! I was dying for a while there. I brought Slater back because I think he's a quirky guy, and I thought his death was sad (he really minds his own business). There are a few more chapters in site still, so keep checking in!**

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Damon sat uneasily across from Elijah. The call last night with ticket information to England was less than appetizing, and he could have used another week – no, _lifetime_ – planning Elena's survival...that's really what it would be; survival. Both of them were headed first-class to meet the oldest vampire in history, who wanted to stab or rip apart or maul the one, _human_ person he'd ever cared about...and he was turning more and more helpless as the days went by.

"Don't look so reprehensive" Elijah said, calmly holding his untouched gin and tonic. Shameful, really.

Damon grinned, annoyed. "I'll wear whatever expression I feel like, while I can." Elijah chuckled sardonically.

"Don't act like he's going to kill you, Damon." He said, tracing a droplet of condensation along his glass.

"Isn't that the point?" Damon said. "Cower in fear and die from some miserable version of medieval torture? I'm sure he's built up some nasty tricks."

Elijah just shook his head, smiling and chuckling again. "I'm shocked by you, Damon." He said. "I really had you pegged as smart; the type of person who can connect the dots. Of course, there are certain dots you can't reach on your own." He was so close, and giving Damon the tiniest hint of the masterpiece which he'd created was satisfying. He watched the young vampire's expression changed, and he grinned maliciously.

"I'm not sure I follow" Damon said, curious.

Elijah looked at Elena's sleeping form, and Damon's gaze followed. "Too bad" Elijah said. "Watching her die will really tear you apart."

Damon felt a strong twinge of hate run through him, and he wanted to rip something apart, but he didn't. Elena was asleep and leaning on him, and the last thing he wanted to do was wake her now.

"Don't you have a fly or something to torture? Maybe pull the wings off of?" Damon said, accepting a Canadian whiskey from the flight attendant.

"That's the point" Elijah said. "You're the fly."

* * *

"They're on their way" Daphne said, looking out over the widespread creeks and trees that made up the view from the Swedish lodge.

"I know" Klaus said. They'd come much sooner than he'd thought, ad even though he was extremely close to accomplishing his goal, he didn't see the point of it anymore. To turn the curse one way or another would unleash a war that he didn't want Daphne to be a part of, and he knew that it would most certainly put her in danger from people who wanted him dead. People like Elijah.

The younger vampire was stupid. Yes, he was also an original, but he wasn't in the same bracket of power as Klaus, and he knew this. Elijah also knew that killing Klaus would give him the elder vampire's power, and Klaus had no intention of letting himself be killed. He'd sent a fledgling vamp to find information on the doppelganger and her escort, and he would arrive back at any minute.

"Father isn't going to believe me until he sees us, and even then he may not accept it." She said. Klaus eyed the dark puncture wounds of her neck tenderly, feeling like a vandal for marking her beautiful skin.

"Your father will have to realize that he doesn't have a say in this situation."

"What situation?" she said playfully

"I love you." He said. It was true, and he'd told her many times; words he never believed he was capable of saying.

"and I love you" she said.

Klaus heard the door to the lodge open, the scout was back. "Then nothing will happen to us" He moved to the large door to the massive room the two were in, and it gave far too easily for a door of its size.

"Slater" he said, looking down the hall. Daphne had spared the young vamp from his compelled suicide, raising him seemingly from the dead after his body had been shipped to the lodge. He was extremely useful, and Klaus liked what he'd decided to do with his immortality; education was a noble pursuit.

"Klaus"

"Did you get the information I needed?" he asked, walking towards him. Slater smiled, handing him a large file.

"I already had most of the information you asked for on the Salvatore Brothers, and I also added info about Katherine Pierce (Katerina Petrova, as you know her). You'll find information regarding Elena Gilbert in the back, she has her own folder. Quite the web of intricacies here!" Slater said, watching Klaus flip the large folder open.

"I'm sure that you'll find out, at my age, everything is intricate" It was true. There were a million reactions to any decision, and lifting the curse was possibly the most intricate of all. Killing Elijah on the other hand was fairly simple.

* * *

"Damon, where are we?" Elena asked, groggy. She was still half asleep, even though they had just gotten off the plane and were heading towards the train station on the other end.

"We're in Amsterdam" he said. He would have enjoyed it, had it been for any other circumstance. Amsterdam was definitely a place where one could _live_.

"What? I thought we were heading to London" she said, waking up a little more.

"We still are" he said, turning towards the train station "we're going by train"

"Ah." She'd noticed a change in Damon since they'd gotten the call to go to England. She hadn't heard more than two sarcastic comments, and even then they were weak or whispered. He was scared. She looked up at the pristine features of his face, her eyes tracing the worry in his brow. "Damon" he looked at her hesitantly. "It'll be ok."

His gaze shifted back to Elijah, Stefan and Jonas, who walked ahead of them, just out of ear shot.

"You're worried about your daughter, aren't you?" Stefan said, looking at Jonas.

"What father wouldn't be?" he replied, his gaze downcast.

"You realize that she'll have to perform the spell before Klaus can be killed, correct?" Elijah said, smirking.

"Of course. I just don't want her to be harmed in the process. It's a formidable spell, and even with my help, a witch of her strength could easily be hurt, even killed." It was true, and as much as he wanted to see Klaus suffer, he wasn't stupid enough to try to make his daughter push past her limits.

"Relax, Jonas" Elijah said. "being nervous won't help you at all" this was also true, and Jonas sighed. He looked back at Elena and Damon, and he could see the strained, angry expression across the semi-vamps' face. It was the same expression Jonas was wearing, one that said that the unthinkable was about to happen, and there was nothing that could be done to stop it. He liked Elena (Damon, not so much..), she was a sweet girl, and he felt like an accessory to the most brutal kind of murder, but he'd do anything to get Daphne back; she was his daughter afterall. The idea of a vampire feeding on her repulsed him, and it made him want to steal the fangs that had so carelessly ripped through her skin. They approached the train station, trading in their flight passes for the tickets. They were so close.

* * *

"We're going to London" Klaus said.

"Why, hun?" Daphne asked, confused. "We could stay here, and they'd never find us; no one would have to be hurt."

"From what I've seen of the information that Mr. Slater passed to me, I've hurt enough people by staying hidden."

"But it isn't _you_ she said" She was beautiful with her childlike optimism, but she was wrong.

"Right now, there's a girl barely younger than you being dragged here to die." He said. "_I'm_ responsible, because the vampire dragging her here wants to use her to kill me, and to start a war."

"But—"

"Daphne she's in _love_, just like you and I. Could I really be charged with the cruelty of ripping her away from the one who loves her?"

"But won't my father tear us apart?" she said, head tilted.

"He will, but you'll still be _safe_. Death is a different kind of tear; it's permanent and cold. There's no remorse in death, no recovery." He cupped her face in his hands. "I couldn't have her die here anymore than I could let you go" It was possibly the truest thing he'd said all day.

* * *

Damon and Stefan sat in their own train compartment, Elena a few doors down with Elijah and Jonas. The train company was very strict about seating, and Damon had no choice but to sit across from the grinning form of his body.

"Stefan, why are you here?" Damon said, not entirely understanding.

"You need your body to switch back, don't you? That _is_ your fee for bringing Elena, isn't it?" Stefan watched Damon's facial expression change, and he smirked. Damon lunged across the car. He pinned his brother down firmly, and he could feel one fang protruding from his jaw.

"I swear to god Stefan, I won't hesitate to rip my own body apart just to watch you _die_."

"And then die yourself?" Stefan asked coyly. Damon moved to look him in the eye, his one fang bared.

"I'd have the satisfaction of knowing you died first" Damon hissed. He would definitely consider it, once he had his body back. He could make all the empty threats he wanted, but until he was back in his own body, but he and Stefan knew he couldn't do anything. It was only a matter of time.

* * *

Elijah leaned against the side of the car, looking out the window listlessly. Travel was boring. Jonas sat across from Elena, who had been fairly talkative, despite her impending death.

"I'm sorry, Elena" Jonas said. It was true.

"I'm sure you have your reasons." She said, sighing. She wasn't enjoying this any more than she would have enjoyed a trip to the dentist.

"I do." Jonas reached into his back pocket, pulling out his wallet. He pulled out a picture of Daphne in her graduation cap and handed it to Elena. Elena took the picture, looking it over with surprise. The girl (whom Elena assumed was his daughter) wasn't much older than her, and the only blanks that Elena could fill were that Klaus had Jonas' daughter.

"She's beautiful." Elena said. "What happened?"

"Elena, there are things you don't need to know. I understand you have a penchant for knowing useless facts and turning them into monumental problems. That'll be enough for the two of you" Elijah said. Elena huffed and sat back, bored. She stretched out a hand to give Jonas' picture back, and he touched her wrist. Suddenly, she saw the entire story of Daphne's (she knew her name now) disappearance! The scenes from Jonas' mind flashed before her eyes almost, and she found herself mesmerized. Daphne simply didn't come home one night, and Jonas had found a letter explaining that she'd left to help a vampire. She could feel the rage Jonas had felt, and she understood why he was here now. He wanted her back.

Elena looked at Elijah, and decided it was best to say nothing. She would definitely re-visit this, though. There were so many questions which had suddenly sprung up, and she wouldn't go without an answer. Jonas sent her a knowing glance, and she knew he'd want to speak to her later.


	14. Spiralling

**AN: Here it is! Sorry about the distance between chapters, but it's getting hectic around here (I'm in finals season, and I have a lot of papers/exams to write. Yay university lol!) also, the cheer team is doing lots of extra practice for nationals, so when I get a chance I write a little at a time. I hope you enjoy!**

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Damon woke to a searing pain! His chest was on _fire_, and it felt like molten lead was being poured down it! He could feel his chest heaving, and for the first time in over a century, he took a breath that he _needed._ He was straining and trying to cough, and he threw himself forward, chunks of black matter and blood spewing onto the seat across from him. He could feel black ooze riding up in his throat, and he tipped his head down, the thick liquid slowly draining out of his heaving chest.

"Damon, what's happening?" Stefan said, shifting away from the bloody mess. Damon only coughed harder in response, and he shook his head from side to side, sending strands of the black ooze flying across the cabin of the train car. It _hurt._ Finally he threw his head back, struggling to stabilize himself as he exhaled shakily, then inhaled. He closed his eyes as he felt the cold sensation of the breath, and he could have cried. His lungs were human.

* * *

_2 Days Later_

Elijah sat comfortably in a large red leather armchair, waiting for Klaus' arrival. He knew that he'd come to London; the doppelganger was too unique of a gift for him to stay in hiding. He'd worked so hard for this; Klaus' death. Stefan may have stolen the dagger, but Elijah was resourceful, and he smiled as he felt the steel blade of his own dagger in his coat...Elena would have to do the honours, unless one of the brothers turned first. Damon was fairly close, of course Stefan's body was much weaker and the change was affecting it rapidly. Lucky Stefan, he'd probably have another month or two before the changes caught up with him; Damon's body was strong enough to fight off the affects for quite a while.

Jonas was looking stoically out of the front window, waiting for the Mercedes that he knew would pull up. He spoke, not turning from his position. "He knows to bring Daphne?" he asked.

"He needs her; she's the one who will be most familiar with the spell. There's no way that he'll ruin his chances of ending the curse." Elijah was sure of this, Jonas not so much. Daphne had been sending him bits and pieces of what had happened since she'd been taken, and his view was starting to change. He could feel the pleading in her flashbacks, and his resolve towards killing Klaus was starting to shake. One thing that would have to be dealt with was Elijah, and it would be nearly suicidal to try to kill him. Jonas knew he was only so powerful, and many of his spells didn't do much against an original. Damon and Stefan were in no shape to take on a normal vampire, let alone Elijah, and as much as Elena tried to be useful, she couldn't help in this situation. They'd have to figure it out, and they'd have to do it fast. He could feel Daphne's presence coming towards them, and they didn't have long.

Jonas closed his eyes and focused on Damon, Elena, Stefan, and Daphne. He'd try his best to form a plan in their heads, and he was already sending them flashes of what he was piecing together. HE could feel Daphne connect with him, and she started adding in bits and pieces of her own. They'd do it, together.

* * *

"They're going to kill Elijah" Daphne said.

"With what? Your father isn't strong enough, and even if there are vampires with them, they'll be useless."

"My father is asking for our help..._your_ help." She said.

"Why would he do that?"

She smiled. "Because I've been sending him images of how happy I am. If I send a mental picture, he knows I'm telling the truth. It's impossible to lie in flashbacks."

Klaus smiled, but shifted uncomfortably. The one thing they needed, an original-killing dagger, they didn't have. Undoubtedly Elijah would have one waiting for him, and he'd have to confront the vamp to have a hope of killing him. He didn't know who Daphne's father had with him, but he hoped that they'd be cooperative. Klaus may be an original, but he wasn't invincible, despite what the myths about him said.

"What's wrong?" she asked, her deep brown eyes looking up at him, questioning.

"I'm not sure how we're going to diffuse this situation." He said.

"Here" she took his hand. "I can show you what we're planning." She closed her eyes again, and his vision was clouded with images of the quickly evolving plan. He was genuinely surprised; the motley group of them were putting together a plan that could definitely work.

"20 Minutes, Sir" His driver said, the window between the front and back of the Mercedes now open.

"Wonderful Nathaniel."

Twenty minutes to understand the plan, and to tell them what his role would be. It was time to think.

* * *

Jonas walked slowly down the hall, not wanting to seem more eager than necessary. He'd been sent to check on Damon; Elijah wanted to know how close to human he was, but it was also a very vital chance to start to switch the two of them back. He opened the door, not bothering to knock.

"What do you want?" Damon asked.

"Just checking on you." He said. Elena was in another room, and both of the brothers looked at him eerily. "Elijah wants to know how affected by the switch you two are." He said.

Damon raised an eyebrow in an expression that looked downright odd on Stefan's face. "If I were any more human, I'd be eating a steak and complaining about my investments." He said. Jonas reached towards him, placing a hand on his head against Damon's shifting away, and closed his eyes. From what he could see, the majority of his organs had turned already, and it would be a matter of days until he was fully human; until he aged. Jonas did the same to Stefan, discovering that his body was still vampiric, although he had no abilities left. He'd last longer than Damon at this rate. Jonas looked up and kicked the door shut.

"What are you – "

"I'm going to switch you back"

Damon looked at him quizzically. "What changed your mind?"

"My daughter. I'm sure you've seen from the images we've been sending you what we intend to do."

"Kill Elijah" Damon said. "Why switch us back?"

"I get the feeling that you'll be a lot more helpful in your own bodies."

"Not necessarily" Stefan said. He'd seen how his body was deteriorating, and he'd been thankful that Damon's was so strong. Overall, he didn't know why he was helping them. "What's in it for me?" he asked.

"If I'm correct, you're trying to save Katerina, right?" he asked. Stefan nodded, amidst Damon's glaring at him. "If you help kill the only person foolish enough to want Klaus dead, he's definitely in a position to forgive her." Stefan decided to think about it. What could he really do to stop the switch? The answer was nothing. He'd die if he didn't switch back, and there was a higher chance of living if he was in his own body. Either way, switching back was better. He'd hurt Elena enough, and taking his brother from her would be too cruel.

"Fine. I'm in." He said. "But, if we switch back, what'll happen to Damon? His body isn't near human yet, but he isn't really a vampire."

"If the switch completes fast enough, Damon's body will heal to its full vampiric strength." Stefan nodded, but Damon sat forward.

"What do you mean by 'if it completes fast enough'?"

"We'll have to bind Elijah to you two as a sacrifice; if he's killed before you (Damon) start to age, you'll live."

"And if we don't kill him in time?"

Jonas just looked at him, and Damon understood. This was the epitome of what he was; kill or die. It was beautiful. Damon looked up at him.

"Let's go." He said. Jonas understood what he meant, and he pulled out a small knife, starting to chant and slicing his hand open. The blood dripped in the silent room, and Jonas' chants were whispered, hoping to stop Elijah from hearing him. Slicing his hand was risk enough; Elijah would probably smell the blood.

Jonas moved his hand over Damon's head, letting the red liquid drip onto his forehead. It smoked as it hit Damon's skin, and Damon shook his head, not wanting to make a sound from the pain. Jonas did the same to Stefan, who sat in silence and bore the acidic feel of the blood. He held a hand over each brother, and they slowly fell into a deep trance as he chanted, slumping over and falling asleep. When they awoke, they'd only have so much time before the switch killed them; what Jonas hadn't told them was that the transition period between the bodies only lasted a few hours; that's all they would have to kill Elijah.

Jonas took out a small piece of thread that he'd stolen from Elijah's suit. He ripped it in half and dropped a piece into the blood on each of the brother's heads, sealing Elijah as their sacrifice. Now it was time to wait.

* * *

Elena sat in the large room that she'd been sent to with her knees drawn up to her chest, her head resting on them. She was focusing as hard as she could on the images floating in her mind, and she wanted to know every detail. If they were going to kill Elijah, she wanted to be a part of it, no matter how small. Thinking about the plan stopped her from thinking about what would happen if they didn't kill Elijah; her death, and undoubtedly the death of Damon and Stefan. She hadn't seen Damon since the train, as they'd been driven in separate cars, but as she'd passed the cabin where the brothers had been staying she'd seen the blood covering the seats, and she knew it had to be Damon's.

Right now was one of the times that she sincerely wished that she had some kind of ability; something that could help save two of the people she cared about most, but she was coming up empty. Stefan and Damon had saved her so many times, and she could count the times she'd done the same on one hand. It made her sick to think that Damon could die without her doing anything to stop it. As long as she had the flashes in her mind though, she knew he was alive.

* * *

Elijah watched out the window as the Mercedes pulled up to the large house, smiling. Even with the barrier between the front and back of the car, he could see three people in the car. Nathaniel, Klaus' human driver, Klaus himself, and a young woman whom he could only assume was Jonas' daughter. He knew that Klaus could see him, and he held his smile back; he was _so close_.

He looked away as he smelled blood, Jonas' blood.

"Jonas" he yelled. The warlock stalked out of the back hallway, coming in to the living room. "You're bleeding." He said.

"I had to knock the brothers out; they were planning to kill you." He said. Elijah seemed to deem this an acceptable answer.

"How long will they be out?"

Jonas looked at him, emotionless. "Long enough."


	15. Crashing

**AN: Here's the next one! I wrote this one in one sitting today (normally I have trouble with this story, but today the chappie flew out of my fingertips!) so I'm really happy! Tell me what you think, as reviews give me huge motivation to write, and they give me ideas for what should happen next! Thanks guys!**

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The room was silent as Klaus and Elijah stared at each other for the first time in over a century and a half. Daphne looked from one vamp to the other, trying to gauge the emotion in the room, but getting nothing. She looked at her father, confused. There was another vampire in the room who appeared to be Elijah's bodyguard.

Elijah had requested that Jonas put up a spell which masked the emotion he was feeling; Klaus was highly intuitive, and there was a high chance that he'd pick up on the moment that Elijah decided to kill him; something that could jeopardize the action. Jonas watched Daphne carefully. He wanted to make sure that she was actually alright and not under any kind of compulsion before he decided what to do. He hadn't been completely dishonest when he told Elijah that he'd knocked the brothers out on purpose; he hadn't fully decided what side he was on, and he didn't need one of the Salvatores forcing his hand.

"Klaus, it's been such a long time." Elijah said.

Klaus smiled. "Not long enough, it would seem." He said, not trying to mask his displeasure at being there. Elijah simply sighed, shaking his head.

"I see that you haven't changed much." He said. "Still bitter and rude."

Klaus almost laughed at his arrogance. He was hundreds of years older than Elijah, and yet he had the nerve to speak to him in that manner. "And I see that you haven't matured at all." He swallowed. "Now then, let's get past the petty small talk. You have the doppelganger?" he said. He wanted the girl out f the room; Elijah was unpredictable, and the last thing he needed was Elijah seeing how much his opinion of humanity had changed. If Elijah tried to kill a human today, Klaus would be forced (out of his newfound appreciation for the weak race) to save them. Letting that kind of information out would put Daphne into danger for sure.

Elijah smiled cynically and looked at Jonas. "Bring Miss Gilbert, please." Jonas left immediately, cutting off Elijah's bodyguard and heading down the hall to Elena. Klaus and Elijah stared at each other for an uncomfortable second before speaking. Elijah knew that he had to keep Klaus distracted while Jonas instructed Elena in what would happen.

"What exactly do you plan on doing, once the curse is broken?" Elijah asked, looking at his elder.

"I'm not at liberty to discuss that with you." He said.

Elijah's expression changed to anger for a split second, then became friendly again. "If it were I who were lifting the curse, I'd use the wolves to my advantage, and take the human world into slavery." He said. He had every intention of doing so.

Klaus laughed. "And do what? The human world is by far too advantageous a community to spoil it as you would."

"Is it?" Elijah asked. "What do you see in these weak people...these mindlessly humming worker bees who are barely aware of the time, let alone a being as powerful as you or I?"

"Their social system." He said. "While they are obviously weak, they have created empires and fortunes that far exceed anything that we've created."

"What of the fortunes that you yourself hold?" Elijah said.

"Impossible without humanity. From them I gained everything." Klaus could see the irritation in Elijah's face, and he smiled. "And from me, _you_ gained everything."

Elijah did his best to hold in the rage that surfaced at Klaus' comment. At one point they had been friends; the point at which Klaus had him made an original. Times had changed, and here they were. There was nothing Elijah wanted more than to rip the little human beside Klaus apart; he could see from his body language how much the human meant to him. It was pathetic. He would wait for Elena, however. There was a much better chance of his own survival if his plan worked accordingly, and if something happened, James (his bodyguard) would see to his protection.

* * *

Jonas walked into Elena's room, closing the door behind him. "Klaus is here." He said. Elena looked at him, scared. She'd seen the plan that he wanted in the flashes, and she nodded.

"Do you have the dagger?" she said. Jonas nodded and pulled it out of his jacket.

"Here. Elijah is expecting you to use it on Klaus; I'm sure you've seen the plan we were building." Elena nodded in confirmation.

"I'll do it." She said. She would kill Elijah; she had to. Daphne had shown her in the flashed how the dagger worked, and she'd shown her what would happen if a vampire used it. "Is Damon..."

"He's unconscious. When you kill Elijah, he'll switch back into his body." She nodded.

"We have to go." He said, motioning to the door. There wasn't much time left.

* * *

Damon lay on the floor, deep asleep. He was floating through an infinite space of memories; over a century worth of images, scents, sounds, and screams. He saw the first time that he'd laid eyes on Katherine, in all her adorned beauty. He was so different then, so optimistic and undamaged.

He saw flashes of his father; the man who'd never been satisfied with him. No matter how hard he'd worked, Stefan was always his father's favourite, and it had always been apparent. Katherine had chosen Stefan as well, and Damon felt pangs of hurt as he vividly remembered the times that she'd compelled him to leave her room or forget that they'd met.

Finally, he saw Elena. She had become such a large part of his life, and yet she only occupied the last eight months of his memory. He'd never realized how much he'd come to need her in that time span, and he hadn't realized until now how much he'd changed. When she chose Stefan at first, he felt the pangs of rejection that his father and Katherine had sent him, and he'd been mad; unstoppably mad and reckless. He'd killed in front of her, and for reasons no greater than his own pain. Now, she'd chosen him. Since that moment, the fear had disappeared. They'd had less than half a kiss, and yet he was completely enthralled in her choosing him; the act itself was more intimate than anything he could imagine; more intimate than sex, blood, or death. It was intricately scary and beautiful.

He continued to drift through his feelings and memories, his current body growing weaker by the minute, Jonas' blood drying on his face.

* * *

Elijah didn't turn as he heard Elena and Jonas approach, and Elena took stock of the room. There were three people standing across from Elijah, from what she could tell (which wasn't much) two of them were human. Daphne looked every bit the same as she did in the flashback that Jonas had given her, and the other human was dressed in the uniform of a chauffeur. The man in the center, Germanic in appearance and eerily beautiful, must have been Klaus. She put on her best face of fear for Elijah's amusement, although she didn't have to try hard to let the feeling spread.

"Klaus, meet Elena Gilbert, Petrova doppelganger." Elijah said, motioning to her. He only had to wait a few more moments; he could already see from the way that Elena was standing that she had the dagger firmly tucked into the back of her pants.

Klaus smiled "Hello, Miss Gilbert." His eyes were kind. "I apologize for the unfortunate circumstances; I'm sure you understand that these are unfortunate terms."

Elijah cut in before Elena could answer. "Now now, Klaus, I've made your intent to kill the young lady quite known to her; formalities won't do much good."

Elena rolled her eyes. "I understand." She said.

"Thank-you." Klaus looked at Elijah. "There is always room for formalities, especially in a situation like this." Elijah wanted to yell. Any second now, Elena would pull out the dagger and plunge it into the arrogant bastard. He smiled.

"Elena, perhaps you should go with them now." He said, motioning towards Klaus. Elena knew what would happen next, and her body was humming. She knew that she had to kill Elijah, and she could only hope that he didn't see it coming. She turned to him, motioning for him to come close.

"A quick second?" she said, looking at Elijah.

"Of course." He leaned down, keeping a firm eye on Elena's back. There was no way she'd be able to move fast enough to plunge the knife. She didn't know what to say to him, so she sai the first thing that came to her mind, whispering in his ear.

"I have to leave it in, right?" she asked

Elijah nodded. "Yes." He looked up at Klaus, and he could barely contain his smile. That one look was all that Elena needed. She whipped the blade out from the back of her pants, driving it into Elijah's chest in a smooth motion that took all of her energy!

"God dammit!" Elijah yelled, sinking to the ground, veins spreading. James shot towards Elena, ready to pull her off and revive his master, but he found himself restrained by Klaus! Elijah hit the ground, body grey and dead.

* * *

Damon opened his eyes, recovering from his dream of memories slowly. The room was in a dull haze, and he had a piercing headache. He couldn't remember what happened, until he looked ahead of him to see Stefan waking up in his own body! He looked at his hands, felt his leather jacket, and ran a hand shakily through his hair. He was in his own body! He could feel the difference in strength, and he could have laughed. He heard shouting from outside, and he suddenly remembered why he was here. Elena.

"God dammit!"

Damon stood, his legs twitching slightly, and he made his way out into the hallway. He stepped over Stefan, not giving his brother a second look. He slid along the wall and peered carefully around the corner. Elijah was on the ground, dagger deep in his chest. Elena sat on the ground in front of him, panting. Jonas was hugging his daughter and he, her, and Klaus were speaking frantically, relieved at the situation.

Damon staggered out from the hallway, and Elena looked up, seeing him and smiling. She got up to run to him, but stopped halfway through.

"Damon?" She asked, unsure. He nodded as Stefan walked out of the hall.

"You switched back!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms around him for the first time since she'd realized she loved him. Damon could only nod and hold her, taking in the scent of her hair and thanking whatever god was listening that he was back in his own body. Damon twitched and fell backwards, sending both of them to the ground. Elena looked at him sideways, having landed on top of him.

"Are you ok?" she asked.

"Working out a few bugs, it seems." He said, smiling. She'd missed his characteristic grin, and seeing it again made her hug him once more.

"I missed you!"

Damon smirked. "I was here the whole time." He said.

"I know, but I missed _you_. Your expressions looked funny on Stefan." She said. They both turned their heads to look at Damon's brother, who was curiously looking at his hands, and feeling his pulse. He looked up at them, pale faced and in shock.

"I think I'm-!

A yell cut Stefan's speech! Nathaniel, Klaus' driver, was pulling the dagger from Elijah's chest! The shock of the situation led Klaus to momentarily lose his focus on James, who flashed past the original and grabbed Daphne, holding her neck in a precariously painful position. Her feet were off the ground, and Klaus could hear her whimpering from the pain of her position. Nathaniel pulled the dagger out the rest of the way, turning it and plunging it into his chest. He yelled, falling to the floor heavily.

"Nathaniel!" Klaus yelled, betraying the alarm over his human friend's suicide. Klaus moved towards the dagger, not caring if it killed him or not, but movement caught his eye.

"Touch the dagger and I'll snap her neck." He said. Daphne's whimpers confirmed her pain again, and she looked at Klaus with wide eyes. James looked at Jonas. "Don't try anything, old man. One finicky trick out of you and she's dead." Jonas stayed put, his face torn with grief. As Elijah recovered, Stefan crashed to the floor, and Damon felt his head start to swim. He was losing consciousness.

The situation was bad.


	16. Settling

**AN: This was originally going to only be 900 words, but I kept writing, and it's almost at 3k! I hope you guys enjoy, and it isn't done yet, so check back! Thanks to those of you who reviewed so soon, and for those of you who did it out of the blue!**

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_He was losing consciousness_

Damon focused hard, keeping his eyes open and trying to stay conscious. From what he could tell, the situation was going to end very badly unless something happened soon. Elijah stood slowly, shaking out his limbs and laughing.

"You're a fool, Klaus." He said. He looked at Nathaniel's body, grinning. "It was fairly easy to compel your driver...phones are so convenient for originals like _us_." There was immense irony here; Klaus was his maker, afterall. He turned towards Jonas. "And _you_. Switching them back? Really?" He walked to Damon, giving him a firm kick in the ribs. "Pity they're so weak though; a month ago this one might have actually made this interesting."

Damon held in a groan; the kick hurt immensely, and he was sure that his ribs were shattered and not healing. He felt his consciousness swoon again, and he cringed. He saw Elijah walk towards Elena, and he snarled, grabbing his heel and yanking him backwards. Elijah simply smiled and kicked him in the other side, the sound of breaking bones reverberating through the room.

"But _you_" he said, approaching Elena. He knelt down, winding his fingers into her hair. "_You_ are by far the most irritating—" he yanked her up, and Damon flinched as he heard Elena yelp "—useless _human_ that I've ever come across." He spat. Damon closed his eyes firmly to try and ignore his pain. He sat up slowly, looking at Klaus. Why wasn't he doing anything? He was stronger than Elijah, and definitely stronger than his little pet guard...how could he just stand there? As he looked closer, he realized that Klaus was staring James down, waiting for his eyes to lock. Damon held his chest as tight as he could, looking across the room.

"What's that?" he asked, motioning towards Klaus. The guard turned his head for a fraction of a second, his eyes locking with the originals. He turned back to Elijah, watching as he tipped Elena's head to the side. She was struggling to free herself, eyes wide.

"The curse!" she said. "You can't break the curse if you kill me!"

Elijah laughed. "Do you think I give a damn about the curse?" he asked. "No. You've been more than enough trouble, having you dead is enough to make me happy!" His fangs elongated from his jaw, when he heard a noise and turned his head. James had let Daphne go, and the guard was plunging his own hand into his chest! Damon didn't bother watching as he ripped it out; he felt something stiff in his jacket, and he pulled it out. The blade that Stefan had given him! Damon had handed it back to Stefan to hide on the train, and he'd forgotten about it! He smirked against the pain of his ribs. Elijah looked at the dying James in fury before pulling Elena up off her feet, his fangs fully out.

* * *

Stefan opened his eyes, groggily. He saw the scene before him, Elena in Elijah's grip, Klaus turning to retrieve her. He couldn't let it happen. Elijah was going to pardon Katherine if he lived; There was no way that Stefan was going to risk his death. He pulled the ash-covered blade out of Nathaniel's body and charged. Klaus didn't see it coming. Stefan plunged the knife as hard as he could, and he stood back, watching the Original swerve.

Daphne screamed as she saw Klaus careen to the ground, and she ran to his greying side, hugging his chest and heaving. Stefan sat back, shocked. He heard Elijah laugh behind him.

"Well done, Stefan. It seems you've turned human after all."

He was still alive.

* * *

Jonas knelt beside Daphne quickly, grabbing her hand and relaying an image to her. She looked up and locked eyes with her father, realizing that her shock was for nothing. She wrapped her hands around the hilt of the Dagger in Klaus' chest, and she yanked it out, watching as the grey started to slowly sink from his skin.

They turned towards the scene behind them, and Daphne raised her hands, about to try to protect Elena. Jonas pushed her hands down, shaking his head.

"There's a spell; you'll die." He whispered under his breath. Elijah had made him cast it long ago, and he lacked the items needed to un-seal it. If a witch tried to harm him or his objectives, they'd die.

* * *

The amount of fury that Damon felt towards his brother couldn't be explained. He only regretted that he wouldn't live to watch him die. Stabbing Elijah would kill him, and he accepted it. He looked at Elena, struggling against the pain, and he felt at peace. If this was his only purpose in his unusually long life, it was a good one. Elena would live and grow old, experience the world, and she'd be free of the madness that his brother had pulled her into; and Damon could stop hurting.

He pulled together all the strength he could, standing slowly behind Elijah and closing his eyes against the pain. Elena saw him out of the corner of her eye, and time froze.

"DAMON, NO!"

Damon took one look into Elena's eyes and knew that it would be worth it. She'd live.

He plunged the blade into Elijah, and blacked out.

* * *

_24 hours later_

Damon awoke slowly, opening his eyes and letting them focus. He was staring at a wood ceiling. He didn't know how long he'd been asleep, but he knew one thing for sure; he was alive. He looked around the room slowly, realizing that he was in the A-Frame portion of a lodge of some sort. Funny; he had no idea where he was. He realized that he was warm on one side, and he realized that Elena was curled up beside him, asleep. He was confused. How was he alive? The last thing he remembered was blacking out in the house in London. He watched as Elena slowly woke up, her eyes widening as she realized that he was awake.

"Damon!" She exclaimed, snuggling up to him and smiling.

"What happened?" he asked. He was hungry as hell, and he had the familiar headache of the switch.

Elena's smile shrunk, as though she had to tell him something he wouldn't like. "Well, you're alive."

"and...?" he asked, disturbed by the look on her face.

"And you turned human." he said.

"What?" he said calmly, He didn't want to register the information.

"You're...human." She said. Damon took a moment to think about it, shocked and holding in his rage. Elena spoke before he got to release it. "but you're alive, and Klaus said that he'll give you the coice between staying human and becoming a vampire again."

"How did this happen?" he asked, relieved.

"When you stabbed Elijah, you were only half vampire, so your vampire half died, and the human part of you survived." She said. Damon smiled.

"You're right; at least I'm alive." He said. He started at Elena for a moment, taking in the beauty of her face through his own eyes. He'd done it a hundred times before, but only in stolen glances...never this close, and allowed. He traced the shape of her cheekbone, her cheek, her lips. She was alive, and she was still with him.

"There's something I want to do; something that we should have done a long time ago" he said, tracing her lower lip with his thumb. Elena looked at him, eyes dancing, and she pushed his hand away, stretching up to place her lips on his, gingerly at first, then teasingly, then passionately.

Damon couldn't believe that so much emotion could be put into a kiss, but this wasn't just any kiss; it was one that he'd been waiting for far too long. Elena slid her body onto his, opening her mouth enough to let her tongue touch his. She pulled away for a moment, looking into his silver-blue eyes.

"I love you." She said.

Damon smiled; she was so beautiful. "How can you be so sure so soon?" he asked teasingly.

"I've known forever; I just didn't want to admit it." She said.

"Why not?" He asked. She planted a quick kiss on his chin.

"Because..." she rolled off of him and onto her back, looking up at the ceiling. "...you're dangerous, passionate, and a little bit crazy." She said.

"I'm not so dangerous anymore." He added, referring to his sudden humanity.

"No" she said "But you will be."

"What do you mean by that?"

She smiled. "You'll be a vampire again." She said

"Only if you want me to." He said.

"I do." She meant it.

"Why?"

Elena rolled over, looking him in the eye. "Because that's who you are, and I want you as you are, human or immortal, a killer or not. I love you; _all of you_."

Damon's face took on a serious look, and he held hers in his hands, propped up on one elbow. What she'd just given him was the greatest thing anyone ever had; acceptance. "I love you so much, Elena." He said. "I have for months, and I will forever." She smiled, knowing it was true.

"Damon, there's something else." She said. He looked at her, expectant. "Klaus strongly recommended that I turn, to make myself unusable to break the curse." She said. "And I want you to turn me."

"What?" he said. "Elena, no."

"Why not, Damon!" she said. She didn't want the same lecture and fear that Stefan had always provided her with.

Damon smiled sheepishly. "You want me to bite you to complete my transformation, right?" he asked. Elena nodded. "I want to turn you on my own, with my own blood." He said.

"Oh..." Elena wasn't sure what to say. She hadn't expected him to be so accepting.

He caught her surprise and smiled. "Klaus is right. Besides, I want to be with you forever, and if it's selfish of me to want you to change, I'll hold off. You _want_ to change, though. I don't have the right to deny you that."

Elena smiled. "You really are amazing, Damon."

He smiled, eyebrow raised. "I'll admit, I try."

She kissed him softly, smiling. "You do a perfect job."

* * *

_The Next Day_

Damon stood before Klaus, waiting for his confirmation.

"You'll turn me back?" he said.

Klaus smiled. "Once you've been a vampire, there's nothing quite the same. After even a century going back to being human can be immensely depressing and pointless. Besides, I need people with as much spirit as you." He said.

"And Stefan?" he asked. His brother was in the basement of the lodge, not in the original's good books.

"He'll stay human."

"How can you be sure?" he asked. Klaus chuckled. It was odd, hearing someone question him.

"Because only an original can turn you now. I'm sure he can try to be turned, but he'll be sorely disappointed."

"Oh?"

"He'll turn back to human each time he's killed with vampire blood in his system. He won't die, but he will age. It's his punishment." He said. "Now, are you ready?" he asked.

Damon smirked. "You have no idea how ready." He would definitely miss eating, though. He'd had the dinner and breakfast of a king, and the change of tastes was definitely nice. Elena smiled, sitting on a large pine and leather sofa behind them, next to Daphne, whom she'd come to like a lot. She knew that Damon needed to be a vampire, it was such an integral part of who he was. Besides, she couldn't picture him as an old man.

Klaus' fangs shot out from his jaw, and he bit gingerly into his wrist, offering it to Damon. Elena watched as Damon drank, gently holding the original's wrist to his mouth. The taste was so different from when he was a vampire; it was bitter and coppery. He knew that this had more to do with his relationship with Klaus than anything (If Elena had been a vampire and giving him blood, it would have been delicious), but he still didn't like it. Klaus pulled his wrist away from Damon, placing his hands on either side of his head and looking him in the eye. Elena looked away.

"Ready?"

"Defini—"

Klaus snapped Damon's head to the side, sending him down to the ground in a heap. Elena shuddered, then looked at Daphne.

"What about when he has to kill someone?" she asked, wide-eyed. She knew that she'd said that She accepted Damon as a killer, she just didn't think it would be so soon.

Daphne rubbed her back. "Klaus is...creative." She said. A tall man dragged a younger man in chains into the room, kicking his feet out from under him.

"Who is he?" Elena asked.

"A murderer." She said. "A century ago, Klaus made a pact to kill only those who were deserving of death." She said proudly. Elena stopped herself from examining it. She knew that she was far too compassionate to accept it if she gave it hard thought, and she let it go; something she'd have to learn to do when living with Damon.

Daphne felt her worry and looked at her. "It gets easier." She said.

"To accept killing?" she asked.

"No, to accept justice. This man killed three children in the London area. I won't give you the details, but I'm more than glad that he'll be dying today." She said. "Humanity is an ugly thing." Elena nodded.

"You'll understand after a few hundred years" Klaus said, cutting into the conversation. "When you've been alive as long as I have, you start to understand that there are larger shades of grey than the average human can imagine."

Damon started to shift, and he slowly sat up, cracking his neck. "Jesus, couldn't have gone any easier, could you?" he looked at Klaus. The vampire simply shook his head and smiled.

"I brought you something. Eat up." He said, motioning to the man. Damon tilted his head.

"You just keep a stock of humans around here?" he said, eyebrows pulling into a quizzical Damon expression.

"He's a murderer; children, specifically. I'm sure the people of London won't miss him at all." Damon shrugged his shoulders, ignoring the man's cries for forgiveness.

"Do you mind?" Damon asked, pushing the man's flailing body to the ground. "It's really hard to make a clean bite with you thrashing around." This caused the man to flail harder, and Damon rolled his eyes. If he wasn't about to kill someone, Elena might have actually laughed.

Damon plunged, tearing into the man's flesh as hard as he could with his human teeth. Blood spurted down his face and chest as he felt the man struggle under his hold. His new fangs stretched from his jaw, and the blood started to taste dizzyingly good. It took several long, twitching minutes for Damon to drain the man, and he finally let go of the man's neck, sitting up and wiping the blood from his lips...not that it did much; he was covered.

"How do you feel?" Klaus asked.

Damon stretched, tilting his head. "I feel like I never switched."

"Good"

"No, I literally feel like I never switched." Damon said.

Klaus smiled. "Consider it my gift to you."

"What?"

"By using my blood, you went back to your previous power, instead of starting over again. Like I said, my gift to you." Klaus leaned against his desk, smiling at the not-so-new vampire.

Damon could have burst, he was so happy. First, he wanted to go home.


	17. Beginning

**AN: Final Chapter! Thank-you all so much for reading, and for continuing to follow this story! I had a lot of trouble with it, but overall I'm impressed with how it turned out! Thanks to everyone who reviewed and helped me along as I wrote, and I hope that the story lived up to what you imagined it would be! I'm going to continue working on my other story **_**Drink Carefully**_** again, so feel free to check it out!**

**Thanks for everything,**

**Naishu**

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_2 Months Later_

Damon looked at Elena who was sitting on the dock. They'd gone to her family's lake house, and they'd spent the majority of her summer there, in love, making love, and enjoying the second chance at life they both had. The sun glinted off her dark hair, and her eyes danced with the reflection of the water as she turned to him, smiling. Today was the day.

"It's the last day of my summer" She said, her voice heavy with implication. Damon smiled in response.

"I know." He said. Elena had decided when they returned home that she wanted to spend her last summer as a human. They'd taken easily a thousand pictures, and Elena had managed to con him into scrapbooking them with her, much to his dismay. They'd taken breaks from the lake house to walk in the nearby town, enjoying the day. Damon was still amazed that he was allowed to watch her in more than stolen glances, and she was more beautiful than he'd ever realized, inside and out.

"Can we do it here?" she asked, still seated on the weathered wood.

"Here?" he asked. "Right now?" Elena smiled and nodded. "Why?"

"Today is perfect, and I want to start the rest of my life on a perfect day, with you. Every time I feel the sun, I'll remember this perfect day and be happy." She said. Damon smiled and pushed a stray hair behind her ear as he slid to the ground next to her. He couldn't argue, today was beautiful indeed. The sun was reflecting off the water of the lake, and there was a humid warmth in the air that was only found at the end of summer. A warm wind was licking the surface of the water, and it was just barely touching Elena's hair. Cat tail cotton floated lazily on the wind, giving a surreal haze to the August afternoon.

"Okay." He nodded. He placed his hands on her shoulders, slowly turning her to look back out towards the lake. He pulled her back until she was leaning against his bare chest, reclined and looking at the beautiful scene before them. He pulled a smaller lapis lazuli ring from his pinky, sliding it onto her ring finger. "Take this." He said. With all the sunlight, she'd need it. She took a moment to look at the ring; it was a very feminine version of his own, and she could see the miniature replica of his own stone. Bonnie had blessed it months before, and she'd felt a certain anxious anticipation each time she looked at it.

"You're sure?" he asked.

She tilted her head up to look at him. "I'm sure."

Damon ran a hand lightly through her hair, and brought it to his mouth, his fangs stretching out of his jaw. He bit his wrist thoroughly, wanting to give Elena enough blood. He lowered it to her mouth, the dark droplets staining her white summer dress.

"Sorry" he said. She gave a small, fake pout before pressing the gash to her mouth, drinking slowly. The feeling was indescribable; Elena's mouth was intoxicating as she drank. Elena herself was in a dizzying high already, Damon's blood tasting downright euphoric due to the nature of their relationship. Elena groaned lightly in frustration as Damon pulled his wrist away, watching it heal. Elena tipped her head to the side to wait for Damon's fangs, but instead he tipped her chin up, planting a final kiss on her human lips.

"I love you." He said, looking down at her bloodstained chin.

"I love you too" she said, smiling. She tipped her head to the side again, and Damon lowered his mouth. He licked her neck gently at first, using his tongue to arouse he area. He didn't want her transformation to hurt, and he knew exactly what to do. He let his fangs lightly graze her skin, sending a shiver of anticipation through her. Between the warm wind, the hot sun, and the cool feeling of Damon's skin, Elena was perfectly comfortable. He pressed his fangs slowly into her neck, and her body tingled from her neck to her toes, slowly. Damon almost smiled as she let out a soft moan, but he was too focused on making the bite perfect to lose the connection. He suddenly bit down hard, starting to lap at her blood as it filled his mouth!

Elena was in ecstasy as he started drinking, deeper and deeper. Her body was humming, and she could feel waves of perfect pleasure roll through her as he drank. Her eyes lazily looked out across the glinting surface of the water, but she wasn't seeing it. She was immersed in flashes of color, hot and cold, and the peculiar sound of Damon draining her. She felt her consciousness slowly start to fade, and she smiled as the blackness took over.

Damon felt her lose consciousness, and he drank deeper. He could feel her slipping away, and even though he knew she'd be awake again in a few moments, he felt a tear well at the corner of his eye. Part of him wanted to stop and heal her; to tell her that it was ok to grow old, but he knew that she'd made her choice, and she'd had more than enough time to change her mind. He pushed down his feelings of guilt and worry, and took one last sip as he heard her heart stop beating. She was gone.

He pulled his fangs out, licking the last hint of crimson from the bite mark, and he lay her slowly down on the dock, being careful not to let her hit the wood. She was at peace; serene, and smiling. He'd made the right choice to keep going. Damon pulled out his phone from the pocket of his jeans, tapping in a quick text to the people in the next house over.

They'd talked about who she would have to kill a lot over the summer, and it had been the only thing to stop her from wanting to change immediately. He looked up, hearing the young man that she'd chosen approach, accompanied by a familiar blonde vampire. Matt. Caroline had told Matt what she was at the beginning of the summer, and although he'd been angry and blame-filled in the beginning, he'd realized that Caroline was different; she cared. They'd had the devastating news that summer as well of a brain tumour that was found in Matt's head, and Caroline had suggested a change after her blood didn't heal the mass. They'd spent the last month talking about it, and Matt had decided that it was worth it. Elena had agreed, wanting to save his life.

"Damon." Matt said, nodding. Caroline smiled, and there was worry in her eyes as she looked at Elena's body, which looked as though it was sleeping on the dock.

"She's been out for a few minutes; she'll be waking up in a few." He said, motioning to Matt. He could see the ring that Bonnie had made already around the blonde's middle finger, and he motioned him over.

"Caroline, does he have blood?" he asked. Caroline shook her head, No.

"We were waiting until as soon as possible." She said.

"Well, now is it." Damon said, looking at Matt. "Are you sure you're ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be, I think." Damon nodded, and Caroline knelt beside Matt, biting her wrist and offering it to him.

"Here." She said, watching as he started to drink. Damon could tell that their relationship had taken a more serious turn by the way that Matt drank, and he shook his head. It was cute, and somehow poetic. He watched Caroline pull her wrist away and lean in to kiss Matt, running her fingers through his hair.

"I love you!"

"I love you too."

Damon looked away from the scene as Elena coughed. "Morning gorgeous." He said.

"My head feels like it was smashed against a wall!" she groaned, sitting up and pressing a hand to her forehead. She looked at Caro and Matt. "When did you guys get here?" She asked.

"Damon told us when you were changing, and we rented the cottage next door...he didn't want to take a chance that you wouldn't feed in time." Caroline said.

"What about Matt?" Elena asked. Caroline caught the implication. _Who would he kill_?

"We've picked someone." She said. Elena left it at that. She looked over at Matt. "Ready?" she asked.

"To die?" Elena nodded.

"Well, all things considered, I'm glad it's you killing me. At least I know you want to see me alive again!" he joked, and Elena smiled.

"Sorry Matt, this is probably going to hurt" She said.

"Don't you have fangs?" She shook her head, and he looked at he sideways.

"No, not yet. They'll show up half way through."

"Ah." He sighed. "We might as well do this now." He said. "I'm feeling a migraine come on again." The tumour had been giving him ridiculous headaches, and he didn't want to feel another one. Elena nodded, kneeling next to him and tilting his head. She looked at Damon.

"Like this?"

He nodded, and she bit. Matt cursed under his breath, but he didn't have long to feel the pain as Elena felt her vampiric instincts rapidly develop. Within a matter of minutes, Matt was dead. Damon motioned to Caroline to take Matt to whomever he'd feed from; he knew Elena wouldn't want to see what she'd done to her friend. Caroline picked the football player up easily, flashing back to her car and driving off. Just like that, they were alone again.

Elena fell back as Matt was drained, and she closed her eyes. She felt the last of her senses develop, and it was amazing! She could hear the water hitting the shore across the lake! The sun felt like an electric current along her skin, and the air was so sweet! She sat up quickly, not aware of her sudden strength, and she flung herself over, rolling on the wood easily. Damon stopped her before she fell into the water laughing.

"Fun, isn't it?" he asked. Elena looked up at him, and for the first time she was _seeing_ him! She could see the full beauty of his face; the blue of his eyes, the sheen of his hair, the ripple of the muscles in his chest as he stood. She shook her head, clearing it, and she looked back up at him. She nodded.

Damon sat back down behind her, and he held her close as she looked across the water with new eyes, the scenery having completely changed to her in minutes. "Is it always this beautiful?" She asked.

Damon wanted to shake his head, but he didn't. Instead he placed a finger to her lips. "Right now it is. Remember this" he said. "It's just the beginning"

"Of what?" she asked, ignoring his finger.

"Eternity."


End file.
